Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
by New Author
Summary: Two twins get lost in the forest. They end up in a village that looks abandoned, only to find out it's not. The spirits that haunt the village are dangerous. Can they escape with their lives, or will they succumb to the nightmare? Novelization.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Authors Notes: **I do NOT own Mio, Mayu or any of the other Fatal Frame characters. I simply write this for entertainment, nothing more. With that out of the way, please enjoy the fanfic.

**Prologue**

It was a bright and sunny day in Minakami Village. The villagers were happy and content. The ceremony was over and a new day was going to begin.

Or so they thought…

A house in the village exploded into a giant black mushroom cloud. The black cloud began to grow bigger and bigger. Within seconds the darkness consumed the village.

Screams of horror could be heard followed by the sound of feminine laughter. And the darkness enjoyed every moment of it.


	2. Chapter 2: Into the Night

**Chapter 1: Into the Night**

_**Didn't we always promise that we would always be together…**_

_Two five year old girls were running through the forest. They looked almost identical to each others. _

_One of them was in the lead._

"_Mayu! Come on!" The girl in the lead shouted._

"_Mio! Wait for me!" Mayu shouted back to Mio._

_They were now running along the edge of a steep slope._

"_Wait up!" Mayu shouted again. Just then she lost her footing, tripped, and tumbled down the slope screaming._

_This caused Mio to slow down._

"_Mayu?" Mio looked back seeing no sign of her twin sister. She then spotted some foot marks that led too close to the slope._

_Slowly she looked down the slope. "Ma…yu…"_

_She carefully made her way down the slope and reached the bottom. Sure enough, Mayu was sprawled on the ground completely knocked out._

"_Mayu..." Mio gently shook Mayu's shoulder. No response._

"_Mayu." She shook her even harder. No response._

"_Mayu." Mio's voice was now filled with concern and grief. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry"_

_--_

It had been 10 years since the accident.

The memory was vague but it still bored into her mind. Even now it sent chills down her spine thinking about it.

Heading back to reality, she took notice of her situation once more.

She was seated near the edge of the creek in the middle of the woods. It was a spot both she and Mayu liked to hang out at.

Looking down into the stream of water she gazed at her reflection. She had aged a lot. She was 15 years old and her body was showing signs of maturity.

Her black hair was still short as usual and her brown eyes shown bright as ever. She wore a brown T-shirt, black pants, a white skirt that covered the pants, white socks, and black shoes.

Time sure seemed to have flown by fast. Looking back on it now, the past long ten years seemed to be short now.

"We used to play here a lot you know." A voice called from behind.

Mio looked up and saw her twin sister Mayu leaning over her. She was 15 years old as well. Her hair and eyes were identical to Mio's. Her clothes were different though.

She wore a black shirt, a brown dress that extended from her shoulders all the way to her knees, and black boots.

She couldn't run very fast though since she broke her leg during the _accident_.

Every movement she made was a painful reminder of that awful event.

"Soon all of this will be gone." Mayu continued. It was true, a dam would be constructed soon, flooding the area in the process.

"Yeah…" Mio replied. "How's your leg? Does it still hurt?"

"A little." Mayu admitted. "But I'm fine." Mayu sat behind Mio, her back touching Mio's back.

"Don't worry, it doesn't bother me that much."

"Good." Mio replied. Deep down inside, she still couldn't shake off the guilt. Every time she asked Mayu how her leg was, her reply was always the same. And the reply she got just now was no different then the others.

"Mio?" Mayu asked.

"Yes." Mio answered.

"Um, never mind…" Mayu replied. "It's nothing."

Both twin sisters remained silent.

Mayu had recovered shortly after the accident. Although Mayu's leg was damaged, both twins continued to play in the woods.

Yet every now and then the guilt would continue to bother Mio.

"Mayu about that time back there…" Mio turned to face Mayu. To her surprise, she was gone. "Mayu?"

She then spotted Mayu pursuing a crimson red butterfly heading deeper into the woods.

"Mayu wait!" Mios shouted. Mayu didn't seem to be paying attention.

Mio instantly got to her feet and began to pursue Mayu. "Mayu where are you going?"

Mio was so focused on catching up with Mayu that she didn't notice she passed a stone with two twins sculpted into it.

All of a sudden, everything turned black and white. Confused she looked at her surroundings and spotted Mayu again.

"No, wait! Stop!" Mio chased after her once more. Within seconds she easily caught up.

"Mayu!" Mio reached out and touched her shoulder.

All of a sudden Mayu vanished, within her place was girl around her age. She wore a white kimono and her hair was black.

She instantly turned around and grabbed Mio by the neck. All of a sudden everything turned white.

Mio found herself back in the forest once more. All the color was back. There was only one difference now, it was night time now.

_What was that all about? Who was that girl? And why did it just turn night time all of a sudden? _

Mayu began to look at her surroundings.

_It was probably a dream. I must have blacked out and had a strange dream. Enough thinking already, I need to find Mayu._

"Mayu!" Mio shouted. Mayu was nowhere in sight.

There was a dirt path ahead though. Mio decided to follow it. Mio wasn't sure how much time passed since she walked along the path.

Eventually she reached an old piece of wood that arched across the path. Standing in front of it was a girl in a white kimono. Her back was facing Mio.

Mio could tell the girl was crying though.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry." The girl sobbed.

Mio decided to try to comfort her. As Mio approached her, a crimson red butterfly flew past Mio's face. When Mio looked back at the girl, she was gone.

Mio decided to continue down the path. Eventually she reached what appeared to be some sort of old altar.

"What is this place?" Mio wondered out loud.

"The lost village…" a voice called from her left.

Mio looked to her left and saw Mayu standing near the ledge of what appeared to be some sort of cliff side. On closer inspection, it was actually a downward slope. At the bottom of the slope was a village.

"Mayu." Mio said, relieved to have found her twin sister.

"I heard about this place." Mayu went on. "A long time ago, there was village here that disappeared during a festival. People who are lost in these woods are trapped by the village. Could this be the place?"

"I'm not sure." Mio said. "Whether it is or not, there's bound to be some people here. Maybe we could ask them for information."

"Sounds like a reasonable plan." Mayu nodded. "But we should probably be careful, there's something odd about this place."

The twin sisters went down the slope towards the village. Thus beginning the journey into the night.


	3. Chapter 3: Locked In

**Author Note:** Oops, I accidentally uploaded the chapter with grammer errors. Sorry about that. It's all fixed now. Enjoy the fanfic.

**Chapter 2: Locked In**

The trip down the hill didn't take that long. When they reached the bottom, Mayu spotted something on the ground.

"Mio look." Mayu pointed to the object on the ground.

"Looks like some sort of bag." Mio bent down to examine it. "Perhaps there may be something useful inside."

Mio examined the contents in the bag. Inside were two news clippings and a photograph.

Mio carefully read the news clippings to herself. Something about a missing geological surveyor named Masumi Makimura. Apparently the search for him was called off.

She then examined the photograph. It was a picture of a woman standing next to a man.

The woman had long black hair and brown eyes. She wore a white T-shirt, a blue skirt, and black boots.

The man had short black hair. He wore a white shirt covered by a brown jacket, brown pants, and black shoes.

Both the man and the woman were smiling.

"Found anything useful?" Mayu asked.

"Perhaps." Mio answered. "I think there might be some people here after all. According to the document, a geological surveyor named Masumi went missing ten days ago. There may be a possibility that he may have ended up here."

"Do you think he knows a way out of the village?" Mayu asked.

"I'm not so sure." Mio replied. "But I'm quite sure he may have some information about this place."

A few minutes later, they entered the village.

"This place sure feels abandoned." Mayu observed. "I wonder if anyone still lives here."

"I don't know." Mio replied as she felt Mayu's hand touched her shoulder. "There may be some people who got lost and ended up here though. Masumi may be one of them."

"If he is, searching for him will be like searching for a needle in a high stack." Mayu walked past Mio.

"I suppose your right." Mio admitted. "But right now we have no other options." Mio touched Mayu's hand still on her shoulder as it slowly slid off. All of a sudden she realized something.

Mayu was right in front of her. If it wasn't her hand, whose was it? Mio instantly turned around but saw no one.

"What house do you think we should check out first?" Mayu asked.

"Uh, I guess the one closest to us." Mio replied still looking back.

"Um Mio, are you okay." Mayu asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mio managed to smile. "I just got distracted by my thoughts."

In reality though, Mio was a little disturbed but she wasn't going to let that bother Mayu. Anyway, it was probably some kid playing a practical joke.

"Then let us proceed." Mayu replied.

Mio nodded in agreement and placed her hand on the door handle. It felt icy cold. Mio slowly opened the door. After that the twins entered the Osaka House for the first time.

--

The air inside was cold and musty. All the furniture in the room looked very old.

"Is any body here?" Mio called out. No response. "Perhaps we should search farther inside." Mio suggested.

Mio turned around and saw Mayu quaking in her boots and whimpering.

"Mayu what's wrong?" Mio asked. She placed her hand on Mayu's arm to comfort her. Mayu grabbed Mio's arm as well.

All of a sudden several images flashed through Mio's mind.

_**A woman wandering down the hallway calling for Masumi over and over again.**_

_**Two twins standing next to each other.**_

_**A ghastly figure walking into another room.**_

_**A figure standing over a bottomless pit.**_

_**The lost village…**_

_**I don't want to kill any more…**_

_**A woman being strangled by a shadowy figure.**_

_**A girl around the age of 15 standing over a pile of corpses. She wore a white kimono stained with blood near the bottom. She was laughing maniacally. Her lips curled into a twisted smile.**_

Finally it was all over. Mio finally snapped back to reality.

"What was that?" Mio asked a little shocked from the experience.

"I don't know…" Mayu softly replied, her eyes were filled with fear. "I don't know".

"You saw it too?" Mio asked.

"There's something very strange about this place." Mayu nodded. "Something about it is…wrong."

"Perhaps there may be someone here who knows what's going on." Mio suggested. "Let's head in a bit farther."

"Okay, but lets not go in too far." Mayu said. "This place is starting to give me the creeps."

They exited the room and entered a hallway. A few minutes later they reached another room. It was full of bookshelves. In the center of the room was a desk. On top of the desk was flash light, a radio, and some documents.

"This looks like it will come in handy." Mio picked up the flash light and put it in the bag she found outside earlier.

She then spotted something on the floor. Curious about what it was, she knelt down and picked it up.

Mayu rushed towards her. "That's the-"

All of a sudden, a flash back was forced into Mio's mind.

--

"_So, this is the camera obscura." A man mused. "It takes pictures of impossible things."_

_The man then aimed the camera at some sort of coffin._

_Slowly he put his eye into the target lens._

_All of a sudden, several ghastly arms sprung from the coffin and reached out for the man._

_The man instantly pressed the trigger button._

_The camera emitted a bright flash, when the light died down, the arms were gone._

"_What was that?" The man said, a bit shocked about what just happened. "It can't be…so strong…this thing is too dangerous."_

--

"…the camera obscura." Mayu finished speaking.

"How did you know?" Mio asked.

"I read the instruction manual." Mayu replied holding the manual in her hand.

Just then there was a loud thud.

"What was that?" Mio gasped in surprise as she pointed her flashlight at the door..

"There's someone here." Mayu said.

The door shook again. Someone was trying to get in.

Mayu's breathing became faster than normal. Mio held Mayu's hand to comfort her.

"What's the matter?" Mio asked softly. "Are you afraid of the person at the other side of the door?"

Mayu nodded.

"Why? The person at the other side could give us information on how to get back home." Mio said.

"I just got a bad feeling about this." Mayu whimpered.

"I'll just open the door a crack just to see who it is then." Mio replied.

She then walked over to the door and opened it a crack, just in time to see part of a face. It wasn't a regular face though, the skin was pale as snow and the eye (the only part of the face that could be seen) gave a piercing glare.

Mio jumped back in complete shock and out of pure instinct, flashed the face with the camera. The person behind the door growled and vanished.

"It's gone." Mio sighed in relief.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Mayu said. "We got ourselves a stalker."

Mio didn't need to be told twice. The face she just saw had murder written on it. She definitely didn't want to stay in the house.

Without another word the twins retraced their steps and reached the front door.

Mio tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.

"No!" Mio gasped in horror.

"What?" Mayu asked.

"Our stalker has apparently locked the door." Mio explained. "It won't open."

"What are we going to do?" Mayu's voice was barely audible, her eyes were full of fear.

"There should be a key somewhere around here that'll let us open the door." Mio replied. "If not, then we'll have to find an alternate way out."

Just then Mayu gasped.

"What?" Mio asked.

Mayu pointed at the other side of the room. Mio looked there and saw the shadowy figure of a woman.

"_Where is he…"_ The shadowy figure hissed.

Mio shined the flash light in her direction, but at that moment she was gone.

"We should be careful." Mio said. "I know now this place definitely isn't abandoned."

Mayu simply nodded in agreement.

Mio shined the flash light in another direction and spotted a staircase.

"So far the only place we haven't explored yet is the second floor." Mio said. "Perhaps we might find something that might aid us in our escape. Hopefully it will be the key."

They both climbed the stairs. The second floor was actually a balcony that overlooked the entire room. All the doors there were locked except one.

The room they entered was a large bedroom. There were book cases on the walls. At the other side of the room was a bed and a desk. On top of the desk was a red notebook, some herbal medicine, and a key.

Mio placed the key and herbal medicine in her bag. Then opened up the notebook and read.

"What's written in it?" Mayu asked.

"The owner of this notebook was named Miyako Sudo." Mio replied. "She came here looking for her boy friend…Masumi."

"Masumi…"Mayu mused. "Wasn't that the name of the geological surveyor that went missing?"

"Yeah." Mio answered. "I got a picture of both of them here." Mio handed the photo to Mayu before turning her attention back to the notebook. "Anyway, she also became trapped here. All the rest of the pages are blank. I wonder what happened to them."

"This place must be…" Mayu turned her attention away from the photo and directed it to Mio. She gasped at what she saw.

Kneeling next to Mio was something that definitely wasn't human, at least not anymore it wasn't. It had it's hand placed on her shoulder.

"Mio!" Mayu shouted.

"What?" Mio asked.

Mayu was so scared she had trouble getting her message into words. "G-dss- b-g-"

"What's wrong?" Mio asked. "Are you scared again or do you have indigestion?"

Just then she heard a dry soft voice that made her heart stop for a second. _"Why?"_

Mio looked to her right and saw a woman kneeling next to her. She had long black hair and her face was white as snow.

Mio gasped in horror and fell to the floor on her back and crawled away from the lady. She then got a better look at the lady and recognized her right away.

She was Miyako, the lady in the photo standing next to Masumi.

"Dear god…"Mio whispered. "What happened to you?"

"_The same thing that's going to happen to you…"_ Miyako began to slowly advance upon Mio.

Mio quickly picked up a book. "Stay away from me you demented psychopath!. Take a step closer and I'll throw this book at you."

Miyako continued to advance.

"Throw the book!" Mayu shouted.

Without hesitation, Mio threw the book at Miyako.

To her disbelief and horror, the book went through Miyako like she was thin air, bounced of a wall, and toppled onto the floor.

_No…this is impossible. This shouldn't exist in real life. She's a ghost._

Just then, Mio remembered the flashback of the man and the camera. The camera made the ghastly arms disappear, but would it actually work on Miyako? There was only one way to find out.

"Stay back!" Mio shouted again. "I have a camera and I'm not afraid to use it."

Miyako was unfazed by the threat and continued to advance. Her arms extended towards Mio.

Mio pressed the flash button on the camera. To her amazement, the camera shot a beam of light directly at Miyako.

The blast impacted her full force right between the eyes. Miyako screamed in agony clutching her face with her hands.

Mio shot her with the camera again. Miyako's scream intensified. She then vanished from sight.

"She's still nearby." Mayu whimpered. "I can sense her."

Miyako emerged from a nearby wall and rushed straight towards Mayu. She didn't get that close to her since Mio flashed her with the camera, protecting her sister from harm.

Miyako growled before vanishing again. This time she emerged from a wall behind Mio.

"Behind you!" Mayu shouted.

Mio instantly spun around and flashed her with the camera. Miyako growled again, this time in pain instead of anger.

Mio flashed her with camera again. Miyako stumbled backwards but regained her footing.

Mio tried to flash her with the camera once more, but realized the camera was reloading it's film. To make matters worse Miyako was advancing upon her again.

Mio slowly backed away to stall for time.

_Come on. Load. Load. LOAD!_

Mio was now backed up against a wall. Miyako grabbed her neck with both hands. They were cold as ice.

"_Why?"_ Miyako began to tighten her grip on Mio's neck.

Mio felt all the air pipe being shut, she couldn't breath. With all her remaining strength, Mio slowly aimed the camera at Miyako's face. Hoping the camera had finished reloading, she pushed the trigger button.

Being shot in the face was bad enough, being shot in the face at close range was even worse. Miyako released her hold on Mio and let out a scream that sounded like an animal being tortured.

"_Even though we finally meet…Why?" _With those last words she fell backwards through a wall.

Mio lowered the camera in relief. Her head began to throb in pain. Mio dropped the camera, clutched her head with both hands, and screamed as images began pouring into her head.

**A woman being strangled by a shadowy figure…**

**Crimson…butterfly…**

Everything became black after that.

--

Mio finally woke up on the cold wooden floor. She wasn't so sure how long it had been since she passed out.

She got back on her feet and tried to recollect what happened. It all came back to her in seconds.

…_stumbling upon the Lost Village…the missing geological survey…the camera obscura...the mystery stalker…being locked in the Osaka House…encountering Miyako's ghost…then having flashbacks before blacking out._

That woman being strangled in the flashback. Mio recognized her as Miyako. So that was how she died.

Wait, then that ghost battle wasn't a dream after all.

Mio then decided to check if Mayu was okay. After scanning the room, Mio saw some stuff on the floor.

The camera and an instruction manual that Mayu had held in her hand, but no sign of Mayu.

She was gone.


	4. Chapter 4: Locked Out

**Chapter 3: Locked Out**

Mio immediately exited the bedroom and emerged on the balcony overlooking the first floor. She saw Mayu on the first floor, unlocking the front door with the key they found earlier.

"Mayu!" Mio shouted.

Mayu looked up at Mio. "I'm sorry, I have to go." She then exited the room.

"Wait!" Mio rushed down the stairs as fast as she could.

As she approached the front door, two ghosts appeared in front of it. Their eye sockets were empty and there were no tongue or teeth in their mouths. Both ghosts were completely bald. They wore pants and torn T-shirts.

The ghosts began to slowly advance towards Mio.

Mio aimed the camera at the ghosts and opened fire.

--

Mayu had exited the Osaka House. She felt a little bad about leaving Mio behind, but something was calling her. It was like a whisper, barely audible at all, but she could sense it. As she tried to pin point where the call was coming from, she spotted a crimson red butterfly.

The call seemed to be coming from the butterfly. The butterfly flew away, Mayu followed. It was almost like the butterfly was leading her somewhere.

Where it was leading her to? Mayu had no idea, but she followed the butterfly anyway. The call was soft and gentle. Because of that alone, Mayu felt compelled to find the caller. After passing by many buildings the butterfly finished leading Mayu to her destination.

Standing in front of Mayu was a girl around the age of 15. She had short black hair and wore a white kimono. The bottom of the kimono was stained with blood. Yet her face was calm. She reminded Mayu of Mio in a way.

The girl gently beckoned Mayu to come closer, almost as if they were sisters. Mayu came closer step by step.

Suddenly the girl lunged towards Mayu and then vanished. Mayu's world went white.

--

The ghost grunted as it received a flash of bright light right in the face.

Mio flashed with the camera again. This time the ghost's figure twisted into a white ball, then exploded in a flash of light.

The other ghost, unfazed by its partner's demise, began to advance towards Mio.

Mio blasted the ghost in the face several times. The ghost couldn't take much more punishment. It twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of light just like it's partner.

With the ghosts taken care of, Mio could leave the house and search for Mayu.

However, she decided to understand the camera better. Pulling out the camera's instruction manual she read it silently.

Apparently this camera had the ability to take pictures of ghosts and seal them away in photos. Also, the camera had infinite supply of 7-film. Unfortunately, it had to reload after ten shots.

Just then, two pictures popped out of the camera. They were the pictures of the ghosts she had sent packing recently.

_So this camera seals spirits away. Interesting. Wait, I don't see a picture of Miyako._

It was true, when she had fought Miyako, she didn't receive a photo. The best possible explanation at the moment was that she was still roaming around the Osaka House.

Mio wasn't sure if that was the case or not, but either way she didn't want to hang around to find out.

Mio placed the photos in her bag and left the Osaka House.

--

It was still dark outside. The moon shone brightly in the sky. Mio didn't have time to admire it though, she had to find her sister. But she wasn't sure where to start looking. Just then she saw a crimson red butterfly move past her.

She then remembered how they got to the village in the first place. She chased after her sister because Mayu was chasing a butterfly.

Finally Mio came to a conclusion: if she followed the butterfly, she would find Mayu. The butterfly led her past many buildings before coming to a stop.

Mio saw Mayu standing in front of a building gazing at the front door.

"Mayu!" Mio called out.

Mayu didn't pay attention, instead she began to open the door.

"Wait! Stop!" Mio rushed towards Mayu. "Don't be an idiot. You'll be safer with me."

Mayu finished opening the door.

"Are you even paying attention to me!" Mio began to run faster.

Mayu entered the building, and the door shut behind her as soon as Mio got there.

Mio tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.

"Open the door!" Mio pounded on the door. No response. "Mayu open the door." Still no response.

"Please! Open the door!" Mio attempted to open it again.

This time there was a response. _"Die!"_ a voice called from behind. Mio turned around and saw three ghosts standing behind her.

They looked like regular villagers only there was one difference. Their skin was white as snow and their eyes were full of malice.

One ghost held a torch, the others held poles. _"Die!"_ The ghosts chanted.

Mio aimed her camera at the ghost with the torch and pushed the trigger button four times. The ghost didn't have anytime to scream in pain, it was totally obliterated by rapid series of flashes.

The other two began to advance forward. Luckily, since Mio was outside, there was plenty of room to maneuver.

One of the ghosts lifted up its pole to strike Mio, only to be flashed in the face.

They were much slower compared to the ghosts she encountered earlier in the Osaka House.

Another flash of light and there was only one ghost left.

Mio tried to flash it with the camera, unfortunately the camera was busy reloading film.

The ghost attempted to strike Mio down with its pole but failed miserably. The camera finished reloading and Mio aimed it at the ghost's head.

"Say cheese." Mio shot the ghost right in the head. The ghost twisted into a white ball and exploded into a flash of bright light.

Three photos popped out of the camera. Mio placed the photos into her bag.

Now that the they were out of the way, she could focus on the current situation.

Banging and screaming at the door wasn't going to accomplish anything, Mio was probably somewhere deeper in the building by now.

Mio then examined the door, apparently two keys were required to open it. But where would she find them.

Sighing, she walked away from the door. She was both concerned and frustrated. Mayu would've been safer if she just stuck by her in the first place. Instead, she wandered off, got locked in another house, and was now exposed to danger.

Where could those keys be? The answer came when a group of crimson butterflys flew past her.

_Follow the butterflys. Yes, that's what I'll do. They led me to Mayu, so they'll lead me to the key._

And so she followed the butterflies once more.

--

Mio wasn't sure how much time it had been since she followed the butterflies. It felt like hours. Mio wondered if the sun ever came to the village. Finally, the butterflies finished leading Mio to her destination.

It looked like an old prison cell. There was only one window that had bars instead of glass. Behind the window was a boy around age 15. He had white hair and wore a white kimono.

"Yae! What are you still doing here?" He asked.

"Who are you?" Mio asked.

Instead of answering, the boy continued speaking. "The ritual will begin soon. If that happens…"

"Wait." Mio interrupted. "Who are you? What's the ritual? And why did you just call me Yae?"

"There's not much time." The boy said. "You and Sae have to get out."

"Who's Sae?" Mio asked a bit confused.

"She's at the ceremony house. She's going to do it." The boy said.

"Going to what?" Mio asked.

"Go get her! There's still time to catch up with her!" The boy went on. "The twin keys to the house should be engraved on twin deity statues. One of them is over there." He pointed to a large rock on the ground that had twin girls sculpted on it.

Mio examined the statue and saw a key engraved on it. She easily pulled it out.

"Yae, the ritual is about to start…hurry!" The boy said. "If you cannot find a way to leave the village, come and see me. I may be able to help."

"Thanks for the information." Mio smiled. "By the way my name is Mio, not Yae. I would ap-"

"Hurry Yae! Time is of the essence!" The boy said.

"Right." Mio sighed. "Thanks for the help anyway."

Even though he was a ghost, Mio felt that she could trust him.

She then went off to search for the other key.

--

It had been five minutes since Mio had begun to search for the remaining key. She was now searching the perimeters of the village. She then saw a hill nearby. There was a large staircase that lead to a shrine.

Several robed figures were walking up the stairs toward the shrine. One by one they entered the shrine.

_Those guys look creepy. They're probably ghosts. Still, the shrine is the only place I haven't checked out yet. I better be careful once I reach it._

Mio slowly walked up the steps. Within a few minutes she reached the shrine at the top. Mio slowly opened the door and entered.

Aside from an altar and a twin deity statue, the shrine was completely empty. It was quiet, too quiet. Probably a trap, but she had to get the key.

She slowly walked toward the altar. On it was a old mirror and a roll of 61-film. Deciding that it may be useful, she loaded it into her camera.

Next she walked towards the statue. She slowly reached for the key, when her hand reached the key, she quickly yanked it out.

Nothing happened.

Mio found this very disturbing.

_Maybe they're planning to ambush me as soon as I get out._

Mio exited the shrine but no ambush came. Perhaps the ambush would be when she started walking down the stairs.

She was wrong again.

Who were those people robed from head to toe? Mio didn't know and she had no intention on finding out.

The current ghosts she encountered were creepy enough as they were.

Finally she reached the building Mayu had entered. Mio inserted both keys unlocking the door. She then entered the building.

--

The room Mio entered was small. At the other side of the room was another door. Mio opened the door and found herself outside again. This time she was on a large wooden bridge that extended across a large river. At the other side of the bridge was a mansion.

_This must be the ceremony house the boy in the cell was talking about. Mayu should be in there somewhere._

Mio then began to cross the bridge. When she was halfway across, her camera began to glow blue. Curious she began to examine it. When Mio accidentally aimed the camera to the left, the camera glowed brighter.

Mio looked to the left and saw something floating in the water. She couldn't make out what it was though. Could the camera be reacting to that object?

Mio carefully aimed the camera at the object and took a picture of it. The object vanished from sight. The camera stopped glowing. A few seconds later it began to glow again.

_I don't have time to tinker with this all day. I should head to the ceremony house._

Before she could however, she saw some black hair hang in front of her. Mio looked up and saw a woman with long black hair floating above her. She wore a white gown and she looked like she was drenched with water.

"_Help me!"_ The ghost tried to grab Mio with her hand. Mio barely got out of the way.

The woman swam through the air away from the bridge and floated above the water. Wait a second! She swam through the air?

Indeed the sunken woman's movements were based on swimming.

_Ugh, that's just wrong .First ghosts that have empty eye sockets, then weird robed people that went into a shrine then vanish, and now this. _

Mio shook her head in disgust then aimed the camera at the sunken woman.

All of a sudden, the sunken woman launched herself towards Mio like a torpedo. Mio pressed down on the trigger button, the camera emitted a huge burst of light that forced the ghost out of her dive bomb assault and knocked her back a few feet.

_Wow! The 61-film packs a big punch. Too bad I only have a limited amount of it._

The sunken woman vanished, but the camera still glowed. She spotted the sunken woman again at the other side of the bridge.

When Mio aimed the camera at her, the camera glowed brighter.

_This camera…it must have the ability to sense ghosts._

"_Help me!" _The sunken lady tried to dive bomb Mio again, only to be blasted in the face again.

The sunken woman screamed in agony as she was blown back a few feet once more. She then vanished from sight.

The camera stopped glowing.

_Did I beat her? I didn't see a photo come out. Perhaps she ran away._

Mayu began to walk towards the ceremony house. When she was almost there she saw a hole in the bridge.

Mio looked down and saw the corpse of a woman at the bottom of the river.

_Eww, I shouldn't have looked._

Just then Mio's camera glowed blue once more. Before Mio had much time to react, the sunken woman emerged from the hole, grabbed Mio's ankle, and began to drag her into the hole that led to the cold water below. Mio grabbed onto the bridges guard rail to prevent this from happening.

"Let go!" Mio shouted.

"_Help me!" _The sunken woman gurgled.

"I'm the one who needs help!" Mio tried to pull her foot free. "Your already dead!"

"_Help me!" _The sunken woman pulled harder.

"No!" Mio managed to pull her foot free, then realized something. The sunken woman had her shoe with the sock still inside.

"Hey, give me back my shoe!" Mio shouted.

"_Help me!"_ The sunken lady lunged at Mio.

"Quiet!" Mio blasted her with the camera for the final time.

The sunken woman couldn't take much more. She twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of white light. A photo popped out of the camera.

It was picture of the sunken woman. She was now sealed away in the photo just like the others. Good riddance.

Now to get her…shoe. It was at the bottom of the river. There was no way she was going to dive into that freezing water and get it.

Hopefully there would be extra shoes once she got inside. Of course her first priority would be to find Mayu first.

The shoes would be her second objective. With that in mind, she entered the ceremony mansion for the first time.


	5. Chapter 5: Kusabi

Chapter 4:

**Chapter 4: Kusabi**

The first area Mio entered was a small courtyard. At the other side was the front door of the mansion.

Mio slowly opened the door and shined her flashlight inside. The room looked like it had been abandoned for ages.

Her flashlight then caught a face peeking from behind a curtain. It looked like Mayu's face. Mio entered the room and approached the curtain.

All of a sudden Mio heard something slam behind her. Gasping in surprise, she turned around to see that the door had closed on her.

She then shined the light back at the curtain, the face was gone.

All of a sudden the flashlight began to flicker. A few seconds later it went out along with her sense of security. The room was pitch black now.

At least the camera was still functional. Slowly her eyes began to adjust to the dark. Her vision wasn't clear enough to make out every detail of the house, but it was good enough to let her navigate through it.

Mio pushed a curtain aside revealing a long corridor. As she walked down it she noticed there were some candles on the walls that helped illuminate the corridor a little.

"_The Kusabi is coming…"_ A soft dry voice echoed through the corridor. Mio had no idea what a Kusabi was, but she knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Eventually Mio entered another room. Some moonlight shone through the window allowing her to see some detail.

There were a few drawers on the wall. On top of the first drawer were some documents. Mio grabbed them in her hand, walked toward the window, then used the moonlight to help her examine the documents.

Apparently they were geographical reports from Masumi. So he did end up in the village after all. Mio continued to read on. Apparently Masumi had been trying to find a way out with no success. Eventually he met up with Miyako, who had been searching for him. The two of them attempted to find a way out.

During the search Miyako was injured. Masumi left her at the Osaka House to rest. He promised he would come back once he found a way out. The report ended there.

Mio put the report down. She already knew Miyako was dead but what about Masumi. Was he still alive? Did he escape? Or did he end up dead?

Deciding to focus on the present, she checked what was inside the drawers. Inside one of them was 14-film. She immediately inserted it in the camera. Inside another drawer was a pair of shoes. Perfect!

She took off her remaining shoe, then put both of the new shoes on her feet. They were a bit oversized, but they would do for now.

She then exited the room and entered another corridor. All of a sudden a ghost materialized in front of her.

It was covered with multiple cuts and had no arms.

"_My arms…my arms…where…"_ The ghost began to advance toward her. _"…Kusabi…took…"_

A few flashes with the camera and the ghost was part of Mio's photo collection. Mio then came to a conclusion about the film.

7-film was the weakest, 14-film was stronger than 7-film, and 61-film was the strongest type she currently had.

Aside from sending a few ghosts with decapitated limbs packing, the rest of the trip down the corridor was uneventful.

Eventually she entered a large room. It was probably the Great Hall. It was dark, so Mio couldn't see that many details.

Just then, she stepped on something soft. A flash of lightning outside illuminated the room for a while, revealing what it was she stepped on. It was a corpse.

"EEEK!" Mio jumped back in shock only to land on something soft again.

Another flash of lightning revealed that the entire room was filled with corpses. They all had cuts in various places, some of them even sliced apart.

The gruesome sight made Mio want to throw up. Who? Who could have done this?

"Hee hee! Ha ha ha!" the sound of laughter came from behind.

Mio turned around and saw a girl with black hair wearing a white kimono. She was standing in the middle of the pile of corpses laughing maniacally. The lower part of the kimono was stained in blood. Her lips curled into a grin of sadistic pleasure. But her eyes were the worst, they were full of insanity and malice.

"Ah hah! A HA HAH HA HA HA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" The girls laughter intensified.

Mio was already beginning to find this girl creepy by the second. She wanted to run, but she stood there frozen in horror.

Finally the girl's laughter died down. She took notice of Mio for the first time.

"_Dear sister, you have returned." _The girl said gleefully._ "I knew you'd come. Now we can always be together."_

Mio was speechless, she wasn't sure what to say.

"_Shall we begin?"_ The girl asked.

"Begin what?" Mio asked.

"_Don't tell me you forgot." _The girl said. _"The ritual."_

Mio wasn't sure what that was, but something told her it wasn't good.

"Um, no." Mio said a bit disturbed.

Mio's mind was telling her to run, another part was telling her to flash her with the camera. Mio was too horrified to do either.

"_No?"_ The girl asked softly. "_No!"_ A little louder this time_. "NO! WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO!"_

Mio decided to change the subject. "Did you kill them?"

The girl giggled at that question. _"Hee hee. You mean the ones on the floor."_ Her lips curled into a twisted smile. _"Let's just say I had some assistance."_

"The Kusabi?" Mio asked.

"_Yes." _The girl replied. _"In order for us to be together, I'll let the Kusabi kill you. Then we can be together forever."_

At that moment another ghost materialized into existence. It was smoky black and had wild black hair. It wore a ragged kimono which was tangled in ropes. One eye socket was empty, the other had a crimson red eye. It's teeth looked like they had been smashed out. The left hand looked like a claw while the other hand held a sword.

On closer inspection, the sword was actually impaled through the wrist much to Mio's disgust. It looked like a demon from the depths of hell.

"_Kill her with one blow." _The girl ordered. _"Try not to make a big mess this time. I want my sister in perfect condition for the ceremony."_ She turned her attention to Mio. _"Soon, Yae we will be together forever."_ With those last words she laughed again before vanishing.

The Kusabi gave out a loud roar before advancing towards Mio.

Mio aimed the camera at the Kusabi and opened fire. To her horror, it had no effect.

**RUN!! **A voice in her mind commanded her. Mio obliged. She ran out of the way just in time to avoid a vertical slash.

There was a door nearby. Mio ran toward it, as fast as she could without tripping over any corpses. Finally she reached it.

Mio quickly opened the door and entered the next room. It was a spiral staircase. Mio ran up the stairs as fast as she could. When she reached the top she looked down. There was no sign of the Kusabi. She wasn't taking any chances though and entered the next room. It was another corridor. After traveling down the corridor, she reached another room.

Mio stopped to catch her breath. Still no sign of the Kusabi. It must have given up the chase by now.

Who was that girl? She called her Yae just like the boy locked up in the jail house. Who was Yae anyway?

So many questions, yet so little time to ponder on them. Spotting a bookshelf she walked towards it. Perhaps it might hold some information about the village.

As she approached it, her mind began to throb in pain again.

_Oh no, not again._

Images were then forced into Mio's mind.

--

_Two men were standing at the entrance of the mansion. One was older than the other. The older man had black hair that was beginning to show signs of grey and a small beard._

_The younger man had black hair and was around the age of 16. Both men wore kimonos._

_**So this is All God's Village…**_

_Standing at the front door was an old man. He had white hair and wore a grey kimono._

_**The ritual that must not be spoken about…**_

_Beside the old man were two girls that wore white kimonos. Both had short black hair. It was obvious that they were twins._

_**And the place mustn't be seen…**_

_The old man introduced the twins. The twins bowed down gracefully. The two men bowed down as well._

_**If I take a picture of that place…**_

_The old man and the twins led the two visitors inside._

--

The pain subsided. So that was Yae. And the other girl in the flash back, she looked like the same girl she met in the Great Hall. The old man was probably the father of the twins.

But who were the visitors?

Spotting a notebook nearby she examined it. The text was written by a folklorist named Seijro Makabe. He and his assistant traveled to this village to do research on the family rituals there.

According to what he found out, the rituals were performed to seal off the _gate to hell_. If that failed, the gate to hell would open, undead spirits would pour out, the skies would go dark. This disaster was referred to as the repentance.

Although not much information was revealed about the gateway to hell, she did manage to find some information about the rituals.

There were two types. The Crimson Sacrifice Ceremony and the Hidden Ceremony. If the Crimson Sacrifice ritual failed, the Hidden Ceremony would be performed. If that ended up failing, the gateway to hell would open. The text ended there.

_Apparently both rituals failed because this village looks like hell itself._

She then spotted another document. It wasn't that long but it had enough information.

_If the ✻ rumbles on a year without the ceremony, a Kusabi is needed. _

_A Kusabi is an outsider, made into a Buddha and offered to the ✻. _

_The more they suffer, the greater the calming of the ✻. _

The text ended there. Mio decided that was enough for now and entered the next room.

The first thing she spotted was the corpse of a woman. She had long black hair and wore a worn out Kimono. It looked like she had frozen to death.

Mio shuddered before moving on to the next room. In front of her was a shelf full of dolls.

"_We promised we would always be together…" _A voice said.

Mio turned to her left and saw a small wall that went half way across the room. There was a glass window in the wall. Light seemed to be coming from it. But what caught her attention was the shadowy figure on the other side.

"_So we ran away…" _The shadowy figure went on._ "But everyone…died…"_

Mio cautiously went around the wall, camera in both hands just to be safe. On the other side of the wall was…Mayu! She was apparently knocked out though. Beside her was a diary and a lamp.

"Mayu!" Mio held her sister with both arms.

Mayu slowly woke up. "Mio?"

"What happened?" Mio asked.

"Someone was calling me." Mayu replied. "Telling me to come back and perform the ritual again."

"The ritual?" Mio asked. "What is the ritual?"

"I don't know." Mayu lowered her head. She then hugged Mio and burrowed her head into her shoulder. "Oh Mio, stay with me…forever and ever."

"Of course." Mio stroked Mayu's hair. "We promised. For now let's get out of here."


	6. Chapter 6: Dark Secrets

**Chapter 5: Dark Secrets**

"What's written in the diary?" Mayu asked.

It had been a few minutes since the twin sisters were reunited. Mio was currently examining the diary she found in the room.

"It's a diary shared between two twin sisters named Yae and Sae." Mio answered. Just then she found something clipped on one of the pages. It was a picture of two twins and a key.

The twins were identical to the same twins in her flashback. Now she knew the name of the girl she met in the Great Hall. Sae.

"What's that you got?" Mayu asked.

"A key and a picture of Yae and Sae." Mio replied. "We should be going now. This place is dangerous."

The twins exited the doll room and began to retrace their steps. They reached the spiral staircase, when they started going down the stairs they heard a voice. _"You were born for this purpose…"_

Mio and Mayu turned around, there was no one there. They reached the bottom of the staircase and entered the Great Hall. The Kusabi wasn't there anymore.

Yet that didn't ease Mio's fears. It could probably still be roaming around the mansion looking for them. Just then Mayu ran to the center of the room where the corpses were. She then stood at that spot, her back towards Mio.

It was the same spot Sae had been standing on earlier, laughing maniacally.

"Mayu, what's wrong?" Mio walked up to her.

"It's nothing…" Mayu turned to face her.

"Nothing?" Mio raised an eyebrow questionably. "It sure seems like something."

"It's nothing, really." Mayu insisted.

"Well if it's nothing, why are you standing on top of a pile of corpses?" Mio asked.

Mayu looked down and jumped back in shock. "EEEEK!" She accidentally tripped on a corpse and began to fall down.

"Nothing huh?" Mio caught Mayu in her arms.

"I didn't notice them." Mayu whimpered. "I was lost in my own thoughts. What happened to them?"

"The Kusabi got them." Mio replied. Inwardly she felt stupid, she overreacted just because Mayu was day dreaming. Perhaps she was becoming paranoid from just hanging around this place.

"Kusabi?" Mayu asked.

"The ghost of an outsider that had been tortured to death." Mio answered. "The villagers sacrificed it to seal off the hell gate."

"Hell gate?" Mayu asked.

"I'm not sure of the details myself, but apparently the reason the village looks bad is because the hell gate was left open." Mio answered.

"Mio let's go." Mayu said.

They then left the Great Hall.

"We have to get out of here." Mayu continued. "I don't want to kill anymore…"

"Um Mayu, are you okay?" Mio asked.

"Yes." Mayu answered. "Why are you giving me that disturbed look."

"You just said you didn't want to kill anymore." Mio replied. "Last time I checked, you didn't kill anyone at all."

"I didn't say that." Mayu protested. "You must be hearing stuff."

"Yeah, I guess." Mio lowered her head.

_Probably just another ghost talking nonsense._

After traveling down a few corridors, they finally reached the front door. Mio tried to open it but it was locked.

"Oh no, she locked us in." Mio groaned.

"Who?" Mayu asked.

"Sae." Mio replied. "I just ran into her ghost recently."

"You mean the twin from the diary?" Mayu asked.

"Yes." Mio answered.

"How about using that key you found in the diary?" Mayu suggested.

Mio nodded and inserted the key into the keyhole. It still wouldn't open.

"It won't work." Mio said. "We'll have to search the mansion for the correct key. Perhaps the current one we have may open other doors."

After checking a few doors in the corridor, one of them was successfully unlocked. The room they entered was a storage room. The room was mostly empty, except for a few boxes and a man slumped against the wall.

Mio immediately recognized him as Masumi from the photo.

"Mayu." Mio whispered. "That's Masumi."

"The geographical surveyor?" Mayu asked.

"Yes." Mio confirmed. "Mayu check his pulse, I'll check if he's still breathing."

Mayu nodded in agreement before taking a hold of Masumi's wrist.

Mio tilted Masumi's head up, then put her finger near his nose to check if he was still breathing. He wasn't.

All of a sudden Mio's head began to throb in pain again, images began to flood her mind once more.

**Masumi walking down a hallway…**

**The Kusabi materialized into existence…**

**It rushed towards Masumi…**

**Masumi hid in the closet…**

**A bad hiding spot…**

**SLASH! STAB! SPLAT! **

The pain subsided.

"Mio, he has no pulse." Mayu informed her.

"He's dead." Mio said flatly. "The Kusabi got him."

Both twins were silent for a few minutes.

"Look." Mayu said softly. "He's got a piece of paper in his hand. Perhaps it may contain some important information."

Mio nodded and carefully opened the corpse's hand. She removed the paper from the dead hand, moved it to a window were the moonlight shone through, and examined it.

The paper was stained with blood but the message was still readable.

"I have to go back." Mio read out loud. "There's something I have to give her." Attached to the paper was a ring stained with blood. "He must have been planning to propose to Miyako."

"Do you think his ghost is roaming around the village?" Mayu asked.

"I'm not sure." Mio replied. "It could be a distinct possibility." She then put the ring in her bag.

The twins exited the room.

"I wonder if mom and dad were able to rest in peace." Mayu muttered.

Both of their parents had died 10 years ago. Their father had mysteriously disappeared, later reported dead by their mom. Later the mom died of illness. They were then adopted by their uncle.

"I hope so." Mio said.

They checked another door. The key was able to unlock it. The room they entered appeared to be some sort of study. Mio spotted a notebook on a nearby desk.

Mio picked it up and examined it.

"What does it say?" Mayu asked.

"The writer of this notebook was the folklorist Seijro Makabe." Mio explained. "Apparently he came to this village with his assistant to study the rituals. However, during his stay, Sae and Yae warned him that it was dangerous to stay here and told him to leave the village. Before he could question the twins further, they were gone." She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Seijro became suspicious and sent his assistant home just to be safe." Mio turned the page. "Seijro was then captured by the priests and locked in a cell. During his imprisonment he found some documents that contained more information on the rituals. Apparently the gate of hell was known as the _Abyss. _The name of the hell gate was a taboo word in the village. Anyone who dared look into the gate would go blind."

Mio flipped to the next page. "Later he learned that the ceremony master, Ryokan Kurosawa, planned to make him into a Kusabi." Mio paused to catch her breath. "Although Seijro knew he was doomed, he was content that he would finally be able to see the abyss with his own eyes. The text ends there."

"How awful." Mayu whispered.

The twins then entered another corridor. They began to walk down it when all of a sudden, a ghastly arm burst out from the wall and grabbed Mayu's ankle.

"Mio help!" Mayu screamed in terror.

Mio aimed the camera at the arm and pressed the trigger button. The flash of light forced the arm to let go. Another flash and it twisted into a white ball then exploded in a flash of light. Another photo popped out of the camera which Mio put in her bag.

"Thank you." Mayu said.

At the end of the hallway was a door. As they approached a voice was heard.

"_Accept your fate and become the sacrifice, Yae…"_ The voice said.

Both twins spun around, but no one was there. The twins then opened the door and entered another room. At the far end of the room was an altar.

"_At last, the twins that will become the sacrifice have returned." _Two ghosts materialized. They were both robed from head to toe. Veils covered their faces. They wore black coned hats. Both ghosts held a stave in one hand.

Mio recognized them as the same ghosts she saw enter the shrine at the top of the hill earlier. They must be the priests Seijro mentioned in his notebook.

"_Accept your destiny and become the crimson sacrifice." _The first priest said.

"Um, I don't think so." Mio shook her head. "We both like being alive as it is."

"_It is useless to resist."_ The second priest said. _"Accept your destiny and become the sacrifice."_ The priests began to advance upon the twins.

Mio aimed her camera at them and opened fire. Both priests grunted and vanished. One priests emerged from a wall and rushed toward Mio only to be blasted again. The priest grunted before vanishing.

Mio then heard Mayu scream in terror. Mio looked at her and saw a priest getting ready to impale her with his stave. Mio blasted him with the camera. The priest grunted before vanishing.

"Are you okay?" Mio asked.

"Yeah…Behind you!" Mayu shouted.

Mio turned around and saw a priest preparing to attack her with its stave. Mio ran out of the way to dodge the attack. She then returned fire with her camera. The priest couldn't take much more and twisted into a white ball before exploding in a flash of light.

That was one down. Mio saw the remaining priest zooming around the room before vanishing. Mio still had her camera ready.

"To your left." Mayu said.

Mio turned to her left and saw a priest rushing at her. She quickly pressed the trigger button and opened fire. The priest couldn't take much more. It twisted into a white ball, then exploded into a flash of light just like its companion.

Two photos popped out of the camera. Mio placed them in her bag. Those ghosts were faster than the others. She would have to be more careful if she encountered more.

"The destiny of the sacrifice, the destiny…" Mayu muttered.

"Is there something wrong Mayu?" Mio asked.

"No, I'm okay." Mayu replied.

Mio then spotted a few documents near the altar. Mio picked them up and examined them.

"What are they about?" Mayu asked.

"Some notes left behind by the ceremony master, Ryokan Kurosawa himself." Mio replied. "Apparently in order to prevent the Abyss from opening, a Crimson Ritual must be performed. To perform this, the elder sister must strangle the younger sister, then throw her body in the abyss."

Mio then checked another document.

"Apparently the last ritual failed, so he planned to use his own daughters Yae and Sae to perform it. But Yae and Sae had escaped the village. He has already issued orders to search for them."

"I wonder if they got away." Mayu mused.

"Sae is dead. I saw her ghost with my own eyes." Mio replied. "I'm not so sure what became of Yae though."

Spotting some stairs that led to the second floor, they walked up them. The room they entered was small. There was a small door, a switch on the floor, and a diary. The door was locked.

Mio picked it up and examined it. "Another diary shared by Yae and Sae." Mio turned the page. "Apparently they received help from a twin named Itsuki. He had performed the ritual with his twin brother Mitsuki. But the ritual was a failure." Mio turned to the next page. "Although Yae wanted to escape the village with her sister, Sae didn't want to leave the village. However, as long as she was with Yae, she would follow her anywhere."

There was silence for a few seconds.

"I wonder if this will open if stepped on." Mayu examined the switch on the floor.

"Only one way to find out." Mio replied. "You stand on the switch, I'll check what's on the other side of the door."

"Don't go too far." Mayu stepped on the switch.

Mio opened the door and entered a small corridor. The end was blocked off by a lattice. She heard a voice on the other side.

"_We need those twins to complete the ritual." _The voice said. _"I'll hold onto this key so that escape is impossible."_

Mio then heard something fall on the other side of the lattice. It must be the key. She then went back to the other room.

"You won't leave me alone again right?" Mayu asked.

"Right." Mio replied. "Anyway, the key is somewhere on the other side, but it's being blocked off by a lattice. We'll have to find an alternate route."

"I recall seeing some stairs in the room below that led down." Mayu replied. "It should be worth checking out."

The twins went back to the room below and went down the stairs.

They led to another corridor, which led to a staircase going up, which led to another corridor. Finally they reached a narrow courtyard that had thick bushes dividing the middle, thus splitting the area into two pathways.

Mio and Mayu went down one of the pathways. Eventually they reached a door and another switch on the floor. They then noticed another door and switch on the other pathway.

"I think we need to step on both switches." Mayu said. "I'll step on this one, you step on the other."

Mio nodded and headed down the other pathway. She stepped on the switch. Both doors unlocked. Both twins ended up in the same room.

The room was circular and had an altar in the center. On the altar was a key and another document.

As Mio approached the altar, images began to flood her mind.

**Seijro Makabe was hung from the ceiling by several ropes…**

**The veiled priests slashed at him with their staves…**

**Ryokan Kurosawa oversaw the ceremony himself…**

**After they finished torturing Seijro, they dragged him out of the room…**

**And threw him into the abyss…**

The images ended. This must be the room where Seijro was tortured before being made a kusabi.

Mio then examined the document on the altar.

"It's another document written by the ceremony master." Mio said. "They found Sae but not Yae. The ceremony master has decided to have Sae perform the ritual by herself. The records never recorded anything about a ritual being performed by a single twin, but he had to try. Apparently the ritual ended up in failure since this place looks pretty bad."

"How awful." Mayu whispered. "How could he do this to his own children."

"I don't know." Mio said softly. "I really don't know."

"Do you think that key is our ticket out of here?" Mayu asked.

"No." Mio replied. "It's too small, the keyhole for the front door is bigger. But the key may allow us to access other areas of this place."

"Well this looks like a dead end, we should head back and search for doors that can be open." Mayu said.

--

Mio wasn't sure how long they had been searching. Neither of them had a watch, so they couldn't keep track of time. For Mio though, it felt like hours.

Finally they found a door they could unlock. The room they entered had some boxes scattered on the floor and a staircase that lead up. After going up the stairs, they emerged into a library.

Mio spotted a notebook on the floor. She picked it up and examined it.

"What is it?" Mayu asked.

"Another report from the folklorist, Seijro Makbe." Mio replied. "It contains information about what he learned about the village. Apparently the twin born first is the younger one while the twin born second is the elder."

"I wonder who was older, Yae or Sae." Mayu mused.

"According to the report, Sae was younger than Yae." Mio turned to the next page.

"Also he learned that there are guardians of the Hellish Abyss know as Mourners." Mio continued. "Apparently they are the only ones that can get close to it. On the year of the ceremony they sew their eyes shut so they cannot glimpse the Abyss."

"What can be so bad that looking into it is forbidden?" Mayu asked.

"I'm not sure." Mio replied before continuing to read on. "Also on the day of the ceremony, the priests cover their faces with veils to prevent themselves from being blinded by the Abyss. They cannot get too close to it though, only the mourners can do that." Mio then flipped the page.

"After the ritual is complete, the Mourners throw the strangled corpse of the twin into the Abyss." Mio read on. "If the ceremony is a success, the twin that had done the strangling will receive a butterfly shaped bruise on his or hers neck." She then turned to the next page.

"Afterwards, the Mourners are forced to live underground. Criminals and anyone who has seen the Hellish Abyss are forced to become mourners as well."

Mio then saw Mayu staring at a nearby door.

"Is something wrong?" Mio asked.

"There's someone near." Mayu answered. "I can sense him in the other room."

"Another ghost perhaps?" Mio suggested.

"I'm not sure, but we should keep our guard up when we enter the next room." Mayu replied.

They then entered the next room. It was circular with a cylindrical altar in the center. Standing near it was a priest, his face covered with a veil just like the other two they encountered earlier. His back was facing the twins.

"_The mourners are causing a fuss." _The priest muttered. _"They must be afraid of the trembling of that place."_

"The Abyss?" Mayu asked.

The priest turned around to face them.

"_Watch your tongue!" _The priest barked. _"That word is taboo."_

"But it is the place you were referring to." Mio said.

"_True." _The priest replied. _"Ever since the failure of the last ritual, the x has inflicted chaos in this village. Since you're here though, we can use you two to seal the x away."_

"Your asking me to strangle my sister?" Mio asked.

"_Correct." _The priest replied.

"Forget it." Mio shook her head. "I wont do it."

"_You have no choice, it is your destiny." _The priest said. _"Accept it."_

"Why don't you accept yours instead." Mio aimed her camera at the priest and fired.

The priest grunted in pain before vanishing.

"To your right!" Mayu shouted. "I sense him to your right."

Mio turned to her right and saw the priest rushing at her. Mio blasted him with the camera. The priest grunted before vanishing again.

Every time the priest tried to ambush Mio, Mayu pointed out his location. When the priest tried to attack Mayu, Mio blasted him with the camera.

Soon the priest couldn't take much more. It twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of light. A photo popped out of the camera. Mio placed it in the bag.

"If it were to come to this, we should have done the ritual…" Mayu muttered.

"What do you mean?" Mio asked.

"Huh?" Mio said.

"You just said we should have done the ritual." Mio replied.

"No I didn't." Mayu replied.

"Yes you did." Mio replied. "I saw the words come out of your mouth myself."

"Really?" Mayu asked. "Well, this place has been making me feel weird." She finally admitted. "Ever since I heard the call I just started to feel strange."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Mio asked.

"I'm sorry." Mayu apologized. "I just didn't want to make you worry."

"That's okay." Mio replied. "If this place is making you feel strange, then we should get out of here as soon as possible."

"Oh look, a key." Mayu pointed to the altar. Sure enough, there was a key on the altar. "Do you think this will let us escape."

Mio examined it.

"Unfortunately, no." Mio sighed. "But it should let us access other areas."

"I really hate this place." Mayu groaned.

"Me too Mayu." Mio said softly. "Me too."

--

On the brighter side, the search didn't take long this time. It took them a few minutes to find a door they could unlock with their new key.

The room they entered was empty. But there was a big double door on the other side. It had a window with iron bars. It was most likely the entrance to a cell.

They entered the next room.

Sure enough, Mio's theory was correct. It was a prison cell.

The front of the room was covered by a wall of steel bars. There was a door in the center though. The twins opened it and entered.

At the left of the cell was a desk with several pieces of paper scattered all over and some 90-film. Deciding that it was stronger than 61-film, she loaded it in her camera.

At the back of the cell was a bookshelf full of several books.

It must've been the cell Seijro was locked in. There was no sign of any bed or chair.

Mio shuddered at the thought of anyone being locked in here at all.

On the floor was a key. Mio picked it up and examined it.

"This is it." Mio smiled in triumph. "This is our ticket out of here."

"Finally." Mayu sighed in relief. "I thought we'd never find it. Now lets get out of here."

The two began to exit the cell, Mayu slowed down to look at the documents on the desk. A big mistake.

As Mio exited the room, the door moved just a little bit.

"Come on!" Mio called back to her sister. "Let's get out of here."

As Mayu approached the exit, the door suddenly slammed shut.

"Mayu!" Mio tried to pull the door open but it wouldn't open.

"No! It won't open!" Mio wailed in horror.

"What do we do!" Mayu gasped. They could both see each other through the barred window.

"I'll check if any of the keys we collected so far works." Mio said.

Mio tried every key but none of them were the right shape or size.

"None of them work." Mio said. "There should be another key somewhere."

"No! Don't go!" Mayu shouted in horror. "Stay with me!"

"Mayu…" Mio said softly looking into her sisters eyes. They were filled with terror. "I'll be right back."

"You just promised!" Mayu desperately said. "Don't leave me…"

"Please, don't leave me…" Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "Please don't leave me anymore."

"I'll be right back." Mio said as Mayu lowered her head. "I really will. Wait just a minute okay."

She began to walk away.

"_Dear sister…" _A voice hissed from behind. _"Are you leaving me again."_

Mio turned around. Mayu was still there looking down as if nothing happened.

Mio shrugged it off. "I'll be back." Mio said in a reassuring voice. "I promise."

She then left the room.


	7. Chapter 7: Tragic Couple

**Chapter 6: Tragic Couple**

It didn't take Mio long to retrace her steps back to the front door. She unlocked the front door with the latest key she acquired and stepped outside. With that out of the way she could focus on the present.

Mayu was currently locked up in a cell. The key to the cell could be anywhere. However, she already had an idea on how to find the key. All she needed was information about it's location and she already knew who she was going to ask.

--

The trip back to the jail house was short. As expected, the ghost boy was still locked inside.

"Did you find her?" The ghost asked.

"Yes, but she's locked in a cell in the mansion." Mio replied. "Do you know where the key is?"

"The cell key…" the ghost mused. "I think it's in the basement of the Osaka House."

"Thanks." Mio replied.

"Don't give up Yae, you two can still leave the village." The boy said.

"But my name is…" Mio tried to explain but was interrupted.

"Hurry Yae, time is of the essence." The ghost said.

"Why do I even bother?" Mio sighed before walking away.

--

The Osaka House felt abandoned the first time Mio entered it. It still felt that way.

She wondered if Miyako was still here. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't.

Either way, Mio had her camera ready just incase.

As she walked down a corridor she heard a voice.

"_Why?"_ The voice echoed down the hallway. Mio immediately recognized it as Miyako's.

"_Where are you?" _Miyako's voice echoed again.

_That's what I would like to know too._

Mio walked into another room. The room was rectangular and a shelf stuck halfway out from a wall nearly bisecting the room in two. Mio walked around the shelf and gasped at what she saw. Sprawled on the floor was Miyako's corpse.

The eyes of her corpse were lifeless, the mouth hung open, and strangle marks on her neck.

Looking at it made Mio shudder, dropping her bag and camera. Something fell out of the bag, it was the blood stained ring she had taken from Masumi's bloody memo.

"_Where are you…" _Miyako's voice echoed again.

Mio knew that Miyako had to be close by somewhere. But where?

Just then she heard footsteps coming from a nearby door.

Mio grabbed her bag and camera and hid behind the shelf. Miyako entered the room, scanned the room from left to right, spotted the ring, picked it up and examined it.

"_He's here…" _She whispered.

She then left the room.

What was that about? Did she know the ring belonged to Masumi?

Mio shrugged off her curiosity and continued to search for the basement. After heading down a few corridors, she found some steps leading down.

It lead her to the basement.

It was more of a stone cavern than a basement though. The room was large. Two stone pillars held the roof in place, preventing the area from caving in.

There were boxes scattered all around. There was a large box with a lid. Could the key be inside that box?

Mio walked up and opened it. It was empty. Nothing inside at all.

She slowly turned around to look someplace else. Then gasped in horror at what she saw. Standing a few feet away from her was a ghost with a blindfold covering its eyes. It was bald and had no shirt. It swung its arm through the air. Mio leaned back just in time to avoid the strike.

The ghost moaned and began to walk away. It was obviously blind. This must be one of the mourners Seijro mentioned in his notebook.

Mio covered her mouth with both hands to reduce the sound of her heavy breathing. Although it was blind, it could probably still hear. Mio definitely didn't want this ugly monstrosity to notice her.

She then noticed that the Mourner held a key in its hand. Just then it let go of the key and dropped it on the ground.

Just as the Mourner was about to leave the room, Mio sighed in relief, took a step back, and accidentally bumped into a box causing it to scrape loudly against the ground.

This caught the Mourner's attention. It turned around and rushed at Mio with its arms swinging about.

Mio aimed her camera at the Mourner and fired 61-film at it. The Mourner grunted, but instead of vanishing like all the other ghosts did, it continued to head toward her.

Mio fired again, but the Mourner kept on advancing ignoring the pain. It was now a few feet away from her.

Mio tried to back away but there was a stone wall behind her, she would have to try to get past the ghost.

Mio ran past the Mourner and ducked to avoid one of its swinging arms. She then blasted it with the camera for the last time.

Although the Mourner could ignore pain, its frame couldn't take much more abuse from the camera. It twisted into a white ball and exploded into a flash of light.

Mio sighed in relief. That had been a close call, she would have to learn to be more quiet when dealing with Mourners. She sure hoped she wouldn't encounter anymore of them.

A photo popped out of the camera. Mio put it in her bag.

Spotting the key on the floor, she picked it up and went up the steps.

She went through a corridor and froze in horror when she entered the room.

Standing there was a ghost. It looked like it had been beaten to a bloody pulp. It's body was covered with cuts. Its clothes were stained with blood and its eyes were rolled back.

Despite this, Mio knew who it was. Despite being horribly disfigured, his features from the photo still remained.

It was Masumi. Just then Mio's head began to throb in pain.

_No, not now. Not while I'm facing a ghost._

Despite her begs, images began to fill her mind once more.

**Miyako walking down the hall of the Osaka House…**

**A shadowy figure enters a nearby room…**

**Miyako follows it…**

**She is ambushed…**

**She is strangled…**

**By Masumi's ghost…**

The pain subsided and the images faded away.

Masumi began to advance upon Mio.

She quickly got her camera out and fired. Masumi grunted before vanishing. However, Mio knew by now that was just a tactic ghosts used to sneak up on their victims.

So she wasn't surprised at all when she saw Masumi emerge from a wall. Mio fired again, Masumi grunted and vanished once more. Masumi emerged from another wall once more, this time instead of advancing, he rushed towards Mio.

Mio barely had much time to react. She felt his two cold hands grab her neck.

However, she still had enough strength to blast him in the face with the camera. Masumi released his hold and fell backwards.

Mio realized the room was too small. There was barely much space to maneuver. Although Masumi didn't look that agile, he could easily corner her.

Mio decided to head to an area with more space. She opened a nearby door and jumped back in surprise. Standing at the doorway was Miyako.

"_I've been searching for you…" _Miyako began to advance upon Mio.

Mio began to back away, only to bump into Masumi.

Miyako grabbed Mio by the neck and began to strangle her. Mio felt the life being sucked out of her.

Mio lifted the camera up to Miyako's face and fired. Miyako hissed as she let go of Mio before vanishing.

Mio slumped against a nearby wall. She felt weak and exhausted. Her legs and arms barely had much strength left. She saw Miyako and Masumi begin to advance towards her once more, their eyes full of malice.

No it couldn't end like this. If only she had more strength, wait that was it. She needed to use stronger film.

Feeling like a total idiot, she switched the camera's 61-film to 90-film. Although she didn't have enough strength to stand up, she did have enough strength to aim the camera at both ghosts and fire one last time.

There was a large flash of light that engulfed the entire room. The devastating attack struck Miyako and Masumi head on. They both screamed in agony.

When the light died down, Miyako and Masumi twisted into white spheres. Bothe spheres exploded in a flash of light.

A single photo popped out of the camera.

It was a picture of Miyako and Masumi. They both had content looks on their faces, eyes no longer full of malice but peace.

Mio placed the photo into her bag. Now all what was left to do was to head back to the mansion and free Mayu from her cell.

But first she had to recover her strength. Mio searched her bag for something that would restore her strength. In a few seconds she found what she was looking for. Herbal medicine. After taking it she felt the strength return to her.

That 90-film sure came in handy. She didn't have much of it though. She decided to use 90-film only in closed spaces or emergencies. She then switched to 14-film and exited the room.

--

The rest of the trip through the Osaka House was uneventful. Soon Mio was outside. As she headed toward the ceremony mansion, she spotted something that froze her in her tracks.

It was Sae. The same girl she met at the Great Hall. The same girl that had stood in the middle of a pile corpses laughing her head off.

Luckily (and thank god) her back was to Mio. She was standing at the front door of a house weeping.

"_I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" _Sae sobbed_._ _"I'm sorry Itsuki…if only Yae and I had performed the ritual none of this would have happened."_

Sae then entered the house.

Mio saw something on the ground. It was a diary. She then read the text.

_Yae…why did you leave by yourself._

_It's our fault this is happening to Itsuki._

_You promised we'd always be together._

_Sae_

Who was Itsuki? Perhaps a friend of Sae. Mio really didn't have much time to ponder on this, she needed to go free Mayu.

--

The trip to the Ceremony Mansion was uneventful. Navigating through the complex maze of corridors wasn't that hard. Some ghosts got in the way on ocassion, but they were easily eliminated with a few shots of 14-film.

Finally Mio reached the cell. She used the key to unlock the door.

"I'm back Mayu just like I promised." Mio said. "Now let's get- huh?"

Mayu wasn't in the cell.


	8. Chapter 8: The Doll House

**Chapter 7: The Doll House**

"Mayu?" Mio called out. She searched the cell but couldn't find her.

How in the world was Mayu able to escape? It made no sense at all.

Mio then spotted a note on a nearby desk. She picked it up and examined it. She easily recognized the writing as Mayu's.

_Itsuki, I'm so sorry._

_I want to see you and tell you how sorry I am._

_I'm sorry about Chitose too…_

The text ended their. Just then images were forced into Mio's head.

--

_Yae and Sae were in the forest. A boy with white hair was with them._

"_You two go on by yourselves." The boy in white hair said._

"_What about you Itsuki?" Sae asked._

"_I'll be fine." Itsuki replied. "Now go and don't look back."_

_Yae turned to Sae and nodded. Both twin sisters began to run through the forest. Sae looked back to look at Itsuki one last time, then continued to run along with her sister._

_Soon the twins were running along the edge of a steep slope. It was identical to the one Mio and Mayu had ran on once._

_Sae seemed like she was lagging a bit behind though._

"_Yae, wait for me!" Sae shouted. "Don't leave me behind!"_

_Yae looked back and shouted. "Come on!" She continued to run._

_Sae then lost her balance and fell down the slope._

_An hour later, the villagers found Sae and took her back to the village. _

"_We still cant find the other." One of the villagers said._

"_She must have left her sister to die." Another one said._

_Sae lowered her head and shut her eyes._

_**Yae will come back for me…**_

_**She will…**_

--

The images ended.

Did Yae really leave her sister to perform the ritual by herself? Mio wasn't sure.

The boy in the flashback did look familiar. Of course, it was the same boy locked up in the jail house. Itsuki.

But where was Mayu now. Wait. Of course! She was going to see Itsuki. All she had to do was head over to Itsuki and ask him where Mayu was going.

Wait a second! How did Mayu know Itsuki? She'd heave to ask Mayu about that.

**--**

It didn't take long for Mio to exit the mansion. She was about to head over to the jail house, when something caught her attention.

Up above, a wooden bridge connected two houses together. Up on the bridge was Mayu. She was walking across it in a trance like state.

"Mayu!" Mio shouted.

If Mayu heard her, she paid no attention. Just then Mio saw a ghastly figure follow Mayu.

Mio tried to enter the house Mayu had just entered, but the door was locked. She then tried the house at the other side of the connecting bridge. It wasn't locked.

She entered a corridor that led to a staircase leading up. Mio went up the stairs and entered a small room with two doors. One door was in front of her, the other door to her left.

Mio entered the door in front of her. She was back outside on the bridge that connected the two houses. Mio walked across the bridge an tried to open the door. It was locked.

Perhaps Itsuki might know of another way in. As Mio was about to cross the bridge back to the house she just exited, she gasped at what she saw. Standing on the other side of the bridge was a ghost.

It was a woman with long hair wearing a kimono. She looked normal except for one little difference. Her neck was broken and her head hung to her right.

"_Wait…" _The ghost began to advance towards Mio.

Uh oh, she was cornered. The door behind her was locked and the bridge was narrow. She'd have to take the ghost out fast.

90-film could probably get the job down easily, but it was too valuable to use and the ghost didn't look that strong.

Mio decided to give 61-film a shot instead. She aimed her camera at the woman with a broken neck and opened fire.

The ghost screamed and took a few steps back. _"It hurts…it hurts_…" The ghost moaned_._

"It's going to hurt even more if you don't let me through." Mio kept her camera aimed at the ghost.

The ghost began to advance once more…only to get blasted directly in the face.

The ghost lost her balance, fell of the bridge, and plummeted toward the ground below screaming.

A few seconds later, Mio heard a loud crunch. Mio looked down and saw no sign of the ghost. She then decided to go see if Itsuki had any idea how to get into the house Mayu entered.

--

It didn't take long for Mio to reach the jail house.

"Did you unlock the cell?" Itsuki asked.

"Yes, but she wasn't there." Mio answered.

"She must have gone to my house." Itsuki replied. "The door is locked for the purification ceremony though."

"Are there any other entrances." Mio asked.

"Yes." Itsuki confirmed. "My house is connected to the Kiryu House by two passages. The Sky bridge and the Earth bridge."

"The Earth Bridge?" Mio asked. "Is that underground?"

"Yes." Itsuki answered. "There is a certain mechanism that should allow you to access the Earth bridge."

"Thanks for the information." Mio said.

"Yae, both of you need to leave this village." Itsuki said. "We can't keep letting them perform that ritual."

"My name is Mio, Itsuki." Mio said. "Mio Amakura."

"Hurry Y-" Itsuki's speech was cut off by Mio.

"Be quiet and let me finish." Mio finally snapped. She was fed up with Itsuki getting her name wrong. "Both Yae and Sae are dead. Yae escaped, but Sae fell behind. The villagers captured her and made her perform the ceremony alone."

"Are you sure?" Itsuki asked.

"Yes." Mio said. "I saw Sae's ghost. She tried to kill me."

"But if your not looking for Sae, then who are you searching for?" Itsuki asked.

"I'm searching for my sister Mayu." Mio replied. "I have to find her so we can escape together."

"Just like Yae and Sae…" Itsuki mused. "Mio, both of you need to leave this village. If not, then you'll end up going through the same pain and suffering I went through. Do you understand?"

Mio nodded. Although Itskuki didn't give much detail, she understood well enough that he once had a twin brother as well.

"Good, now get going Mio." Itsuki said. "Time is of the essence."

--

The trip back to the Kiryu House didn't take very long. After retracing her steps, she ended up in the small room on the second floor.

This time she took the other door. It lead to another corridor. At the end she reached a staircase that spiraled downward.

As Mio descended down the stairs, she heard a giggle from above.

Mio looked up and saw something fall down the middle of the stairwell. It fell past Mio and hit the floor with a loud thud.

Mio continued down the stairs. When Mio reached the bottom, she saw a woman on sprawled on the floor.

The woman had long black hair and she laid on her back. She wore a red kimono. Her legs and feet were bare.

Mio knew by just looking at her, that the woman was the blur she saw fall down the center of the stairwell.

The fallen woman giggled before using her arms to drag herself towards Mio.

Mio aimed the camera at the fallen woman and opened fire. The fallen woman yelped before vanishing.

Mio then heard giggling from above. Mio looked up, then ran out of the way just in time as the woman fell headfirst into the position Mio was seconds ago.

The fallen woman used her arms to drag herself towards Mio. When she was close enough, she tried to grab Mio's leg with her hands.

The attempt failed, Mio blasted her with the camera once more.

The woman groaned before vanishing. She tried to fall on Mio headfirst again, but Mio was prepared that time. She easily walked out of the way. When the woman landed, Mio shot her with the camera for the final time.

The fallen woman could take much more, she twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of bright light.

A photo popped out of Mio's camera. Mio placed the photo in her bag then exited the room.

--

Deep within the Ceremony Mansion, in a hidden ceremony chamber, the spirits had gathered.

Several priests were in the room. Among them was a priest in a grey kimono. He wore a hood over his head. His face wasn't covered by a veil, but the darkness of the of the shadows covered it. His back was currently facing the priests.

This was the ceremony master.

"_You had the twins in your clutches…" The _ceremony master said._ "with the entrances locked down_…" He turned to face the priests. _"and they still escaped this mansion despite your efforts."_

"_Your holiness." _One of the priests said. _"We tried to capture them, but one of them had this weird box that trapped our brothers in pictures."_

"_We've lost three priests trying to capture them."_ Another said.

"_A box?"_ The ceremony master asked. _"What kind of box?"_

"_It had a circular piece of glass on it." _The priest replied. _"It shot beams of light at us. Then sucked our fellow brothers into it. After that, they came out as pictures."_

"_Perhaps it could be the power of the holy mirror…" _The ceremony master mused. _"Never mind about that, do you have any idea of their location."_

"_We're not sure." _Another priest replied. _"We do know one of them fell into a trap at the prison cell. Unfortunately, she managed to escape."_

"_It may be safe to assume they've been separated." _Another priest said.

"_If that's the case they may try to find each other before leaving the village." _The ceremony master said. _"We can use that to our advantage. Put the village on full alert. Have the villagers search every house. Perhaps they may have trouble with the one holding the holy mirror, but the other is defenseless."_

"_But wouldn't there be a chance that one would abandon the other like last time?" _Another asked.

"_There is a distinct possibility of that happening." _The ceremony admitted. _"Which why I want both twins captured at once."_

"_You want us to help them find each other?" _Another priest asked.

"_All that is required is for you to get both twins here." _The ceremony master said. _"Use any means necessary. If it requires capturing them when they're together, do so. If it requires capturing them when they are seperated, do so. Just make sure they don't escape again. Dismissed."_

All the priests left the room except the ceremony master.

_**The twins are my daughters. As their father, I must find them so they can fulfill their destiny.**_

--

The next room Mio entered was large. There were dolls hanging from the ceiling, dolls on the shelves, and dolls scattered across the floor.

Mio checked the drawers and found some herbal medicine, extra 14-film, extra 61-film, and extra 90-film.

Mio put them in her bag.

"_Why do you kill?" _A voice echoed.

"_Don't kill." _Another voice followed.

Mio turned and saw two short shadowy figures go through a door. They were obviously ghosts. Insane ghosts. The type of ghosts Mio knew were going to be plain trouble.

Mio slowly walked to the door and opened it. She entered a hallway. Just then she saw two shadowy figures vanish into a nearby door giggling.

Mio followed them into the next room. Was it a wise thing to do, probably not, but she did it anyhow.

The next room appeared to be some sort of altar room. Next to the altar was a violet diary.

Mio picked it up and read the text.

_**Day 1**_

_Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? _

_Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill?_

_Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill? Why kill?_

Mio stopped reading. She found the text very disturbing. Perhaps there might be some info on the next page.

_**Day 2**_

_My hands closed around Azami's neck. _

_It was soft, warm. Alive. My grip seemed to cause her so much pain. At the very end, the Veiled Priest came to help me. _

_But Azami said she wanted only me to do it. _

_I became one with Azami... But now she's gone. _

_I can't talk about it any more. _

_**Day 3**_

_Father brought Azami back. _

_All I could do was apologize. _

_She forgave me. The killing is over now._

_No more. I'll never hurt anyone again. _

_I'll never let anyone kill again. _

_**Day 4**_

_Father says Azami has been possessed, and he's trying to kill her. _

_He's trying to kill Azami._

_I won't let him do it. _

_I won't let that happen any more. _

_**Day 5**_

_YoU Don'T neeD a suBStitutE foR Me. _

_I aM PArt of akANe nOW._

_I AM onE wItH AKanE. _

_KILL IT. _

_KiLL tHat sTupID dOll! _

The last entry sent chills down Mio's spine. Who wrote this? Mio wasn't sure and didn't want to find out either. Thinking about it was just creepy.

Whoever wrote that must've had a twin. Apparently the 'older' twin strangled the 'younger' twin for the ritual.

The elder twin then went insane after that. Yes, that must've been what happened.

Anyway, this room was a dead end. There were no signs of any mechanisms for the Earth Bridge anywhere. Mio exited the room and entered the hallway again.

She turned to go down the hall, then gasped at what she saw. Standing a few feet away from her was a ghost.

It was little girl with long black hair wearing a kimono. The hair covered her eyes and her face held no expression. She looked like an oversized doll.

"_Why do you kill?" _The ghost whispered. Her voice was flatly automated, devoid of emotion.

Mio turned to run away and saw another ghost girl.

It was identical to the other ghost. There was one extra detail though, on her neck was a bruise shaped like a butterfly.

"_Why do you kill?" _She whispered sinisterly.

The twin ghosts began to slowly advance toward Mio. They moved like automated windup toys.

Mio opened fire at one of the twins, no effect. At that moment, both twins sprang to life and rushed towards her.

Mio tried to open the door she came from but it wouldn't budge. A mysterious force held it in place. Both ghosts slammed into Mio. One twin tried to get a hold of Mio's arms while the other twin tried to strangle her.

Mio managed to break free of the twins hold and ran down the corridor. There was a door at the end. Mio tried to open it, but a mysterious force held it shut just like the last one.

"_Why do you kill?" _Both twins chanted. They then began to advance forward side by side.

Mio knew the longer this battle dragged on, the more she was likely to lose. She had to end it fast. Mio quickly switched to 90-film, aimed the camera at the twins, and opened fire.

Both twins screamed in pain as the light engulfed them. They began to retreat down the corridor. Mio fired again, but the twins ghosted through a nearby wall.

Mio waited a few minutes to check if they were planning on ambushing her again, nothing happened. The twins had retreated for now.

Mio then opened the door (the mysterious force holding it in place was gone) at the end of the corridor. When she entered the room, she gasped in shock, then recovered.

At the other side of the room were two life sized dolls that looked identical to the twins she fought earlier. For a second she had thought they were ghosts. One of the dolls seemed to be missing its head and left arm.

Between the dolls was a mechanism with two buttons. On top of the mechanism were some doll design notes and some other documents.

Mio examined the documents. They were notes written by Yoshitatsu Kiryu. According to the notes, Yoshitatsu's daughter had strangled her twin sister Azami during the ritual.

Akane became very depressed after that.

Yoshitatsu built a life sized doll of Azami to cheer her up. It worked successfully, but then the doll became possessed by an evil spirit

Akane soon became controlled by the doll.

Azami's spirit appeared to Yoshitatsu and told him she had become one with Akane and told him to kill the doll.

Yoshitatsu planned to hang the doll and throw it into the abyss.

Unfortunately, Akane found out about this and broke the mechanism that opened up the underground passage that led to the abyss.

She then took the dolls left arm and head and hid them.

The text ended there.

_So Akane is the ghost I encountered earlier in the hallway. But who was that duplicate with her…could it be the doll._

Spotting another document, she picked it up and read it.

_Left, right, left, right, left._

_When the twin dolls face each other, the entrance to the Earth Bridge will be revealed._

The text ended there.

So the mechanism must be the key to opening the Earth Bridge. Mio then pushed one of the two buttons. Nothing happened.

She tried another button. Nothing happened.

Why wouldn't it work?

Mio then looked at the doll missing it's head and arm.

Of course, Akane had hid the dolls parts. That is why the mechanism wouldn't work. She had to find those parts first.

Mio then left the room to search for the parts.

--

The search for the doll's parts took about five minutes.

Mio found the dolls head in the altar room. She then found the left arm in a box in the storage room. She went back to the doll room, attached the parts to the broken doll, and tried to use the mechanism again.

Nothing happened. Upon closer inspection, the doll had no eyes. Mio then realized she had to find the eyes.

After some more searching, she found them. They were in possession of a puppet master ghost. Apparently he levitated dolls in mid-air and had them home onto Mio like missiles. There was only one flaw in his attack though.

Every time he was blasted with the camera, his attack was canceled out. Within seconds, he became part of Mio's photo collection.

Now Mio was back at the doll room. She inserted the eyes into the dolls eye sockets.

After that she tried to activate the mechanism again. The dolls turned a bit. It worked! Perfect!

Now what buttons did she have to push again now? Aha, left, right, left, right, left.

The dolls turned and faced each other. She heard gears of machinery turning.

_This is it, the entrance to the Earth Bridge should open now!_

Just then the machinery stopped. Then the doll Mio had just put back together came to life. It turned to face Mio.

"_Why do you kill?"_ It asked in a flat automated voice.

Then a ghost emerged from the other doll. It was the twin with the butterfly bruise on her neck. It was Akane.

"_Why do you kill?" _Akane asked. Her voice lacked emotion.

Both ghosts began to advance towards Mio.

Mio aimed her camera at the twins and fired. Akane got out of the way, but the twin doll wasn't lucky. It was hit head on by the blast. The doll was pushed back, but it managed to regain it's balance.

"_Don't kill…" _Akane emerged from a wall and rushed straight at Mio.

Mio got out of the way and fired. Akane yelped, then vanished.

"I have to." Mio aimed her camera at the advancing twin doll. "For the sake of my sister, Mayu, I must kill to survive."

She then fired at the twin doll. The doll gave out an automated yelp and fell down. It then tried to get back up.

Akane emerged from a wall, then rushed at Mio to help the twin doll. Mio got out of the way and fired. Akane yelped and vanished. Mio then decided to focus all her firepower on the twin doll since it couldn't vanish.

Mio evaded Akane's attacks and kept firing at the twin doll.

Finally, the doll couldn't take much more. It let out an animalistic scream, then a white sphere was forced out of the doll, it hovered in the air a few seconds, then exploded in a flash of light.

Without a soul, the doll couldn't function. It collapsed on the ground and fell apart.

"_Azami…" _Akane whispered sadly. _"Why? I don't want to kill anymore." _

With those parting words, Akane ghosted through a nearby wall.

A photo popped out of Mio's camera. Upon looking at it, Mio knew that doll definitely wasn't Azami. Mio then placed the photo in her bag.

The entrance to the Earth Bridge finally opened, revealing a ladder going down.

The Earth Bridge would allow Mio to enter Itsuki's house, the current location her sister was at.

Mio then descended down the ladder, unaware of the horrors that waited ahead.


	9. Chapter 9: Victims of the Ceremony

**Chapter 8: Victims of the Ceremony**

The Earth Bridge was an underground tunnel. It was dark, but Mio was able to use her flashlight to help her see. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling looked like they were made of rock.

"_Are you leaving me again?" _A cold, yet familiar voice called from behind.

Mio turned around and gasped in horror. It was Sae.

The demented ghost was laughing her head off. Her eyes shone with insanity. Soon the laughter died down.

"_Are you leaving me again?" _Sae asked as she slowly walked towards Mio.

Mio lifted the camera to her face, then aimed it at Sae.

Sae was nowhere to be seen in the targeting lens. Mio then heard Sae giggle. Mio aimed the camera in different directions, but Sae was nowhere to be seen.

Mio then lowered the camera and her eyes widened in horror.

Sae was a few inches in front of her and was still advancing. Mio dropped the camera in shock and ran away.

Wait, the camera!

Mio looked back and saw Sae standing over it. No!

Mio continued running. She wasn't so sure how long she ran. Time had already lost it's meaning the moment she had entered the village.

By the time she reached a ladder going up, she was panting. Mio looked back and saw no signs of Sae. She did hear footsteps though. Mio then climbed the ladder as fast as she was able her arms and legs would allow her.

Mio then entered what appeared to be a storage room. She realized she must be in Itsuki's house. There was no time to celebrate yet though. Sae was still on her tail. Mio then exited the room and entered a corridor.

"_I've kept waiting and waiting…" _A voice called to her left. _"But you never came…"_

Mio looked to her left and gasped in terror. Sae was walking down the hallway towards her. How did she get there so fast?

Mio ran the opposite direction.

"_Come back Yae." _Sae said. _"I've been waiting for you."_

"I'm not Yae!" Mio shouted. She then turned left and ran down another corridor. "I'm Mio!"

She then reached a door at the end of the corridor. It lead to a staircase that went up to the second floor.

Mio looked back. There were no signs of Sae. Did she give up the chase?

Mio decided to keep moving just to be on the safe side. She then entered another corridor.

Just then Mio saw a shadowy figure that looked like Mayu walk down the hall and head left down another.

Mio ran after it.

"Mayu!" Mio shouted.

The shadowy silhouette of Mayu turned around and walked in her direction. It then stepped out of the shadows. It wasn't Mayu, it was Sae!

"_You wont leave me again, right?" _Sae asked. Her lips curled into a sadistic smile.

Mio ran. She spotted a nearby door and opened it. She entered an empty room. There was a door on the other side.

Mio saw the door knob on the door behind her begin to turn. Mio quickly opened the door in front of her, entered the next room, slammed the door shut and locked it. That should slow her down for awhile.

The room she had entered was empty. There was one door to her left and one door to her right.

Before she had a chance to decide which door to open, she heard a knock on the door.

"Please open the door." Mayu's voice came from the other side.

Mio narrowed her eyes. This was probably another trick.

"Please…" Mayu's voice said.

"Mayu?" Mio asked. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me." The voice said. "Please open the door."

"If it's you, then what is my name?" Mio asked.

"Mio." The voice answered. "Please open the door."

"My full name." Mio said. She wasn't going to take any risks.

"…Uh…um…Mio Kurosawa." The voice replied. "Yeah, that's it."

At this point Mio knew that the person on the other side of the door wasn't Mayu. It was a ghost. So far it hadn't bothered to emerge through the door yet. Hopefully it would stay that way.

Mio tried to open the door on her right. It was locked.

"Come on Mio!" The voice said. "Open the door!"

"Hang on a second!" Mio replied. "I need to find the key to unlock it."

Mio tried to the other door. Success! It opened…and led into a closet. Things weren't looking good at all until she spotted something. On the floor was a doll holding a key in its hand.

Mio yanked the key out of the dolls hand and put the doll in her bag.

Mio then exited the closet. She saw Sae ghost through the wall.

"_Yae, why didn't you open the door?"_ Sae asked. _"You don't plan to leave me again do you?_

Mio made a mad dash for the door. Sae tried to grab her but failed. Mio quickly unlocked the door with the key and entered the next room.

Mio barely had much time to observe much details of the room. She heard the door knob on the door behind her begin to turn. Spotting a nearby closet, she opened the door and went inside. Just as Mio saw the door begin to open, she closed the closet door.

Mio slowly began to back away from the closet door until her back touched the wall. She slowly got onto her knees and hoped Sae wouldn't enter.

A few seconds passed, Mio was breathing heavily. She felt so defenseless without her camera. Finally she heard Sae's voice.

"_She's gone..." _Sae whispered flatly.

Mio then heard her walk towards the rooms exit.

Relieved, Mio began to stand up.

CREAK!

A wooden plank creaked under the Mio's weight.

Mio gasped in horror. She blew it, now Sae would get her for sure.

Nothing happened though.

Finally, Mio heard Sae exit the room and shut the door behind her.

Mio wiped a bead of sweat from her eye brow, then exited the closet.

There was a door next to the closet. Next to the door was a mechanism similar to the one she saw at the Kiryu House. There was one doll on it though. Mio remembered that it took two dolls to activate it.

Taking the doll she had found recently out of her bag, she placed on the platform next to the other doll.

Now according to Yoshitatsu's report, the order of buttons was left, right, left, right, left.

The door unlocked.

Just then Sae entered the room.

"_Please…don't go…" _Sae begged. _"Stay with me…"_

Mio quickly opened the door and exited the room. Mio found herself outside once more. She was on the Sky Bridge. The same bridge that connected the Kiryu House to Itsuki's House.

Mio crossed the Sky Bridge. When she looked back, there was no sign of Sae. Mio kept moving nonetheless. Within seconds she was back in the Kiryu House. She navigated her way back to the doll room.

The entrance to the Earth Bridge was still open. Good! Hopefully the camera would still be there. Mio climbed down the ladder and entered the Earth Bridge. After some quick searching, she spotted the camera on the floor.

Mio picked it up and held onto it as if it were part of her. She had no intention of ever letting it go again.

Sae must've given up the chase by now. Mio wondered if she was still searching for her.

Just then Mio realized she was breathing heavily from all that running. She was hot, sweaty, and thirsty. She needed water. But where could she find it?

She then spotted a skeleton slumped against the wall. It had a water bottle clutched in it's hand. Normally Mio would've just shuddered and walked away from it. But this wasn't a normal day, she needed water bad.

Mio yanked the water bottle out of the skeleton's hand. There was still water inside. She lifted the bottle to he lips and drank it. It was a bit warm, but it was enough to keep her hydrated. When she was done, she splashed the remaining water on her face.

With that out of the way, she could continue her search for Mayu. She then climbed up the ladder that led her to Itsuki's house.

--

Mio walked through the corridors. It felt different being in Itsuki's house, now that Sae wasn't after her.

Still, it was best to keep her guard up. There was no telling what kind of ghosts could be lurking around here.

She then entered a room. It had a few chairs and a desk. On the desk was a green diary and some extra film.

Mio picked up the diary and examined it. It was written by Ryozo Munakata, the folklorists assistant.

Apparently he had received a letter from Itsuki. According to the letter, Itsuki wanted him to come for Yae and Sae on the day of the carnival.

Both Seijro and Ryozo went to the village. They were given a warm welcome by Ryokan and his two daughters, Yae and Sae. While Seijro researched on the rituals of the village, Ryozo focused on tracking down Itsuki.

Ryozo asked around the village about Itsuki's whereabouts. The response from all the villagers was that Itsuki and his twin brother Mitsuki died from illness.

Ryozo did see Itsuki's younger sister, Chitose, in the corridor of the Tachibana House. Normally Chitose was shy around strangers, but today was different.

It looked like she wanted to tell him something. Unfortunately she chickened out and ran away without saying another word.

As the day of the ceremony drew near, Yae delivered a letter to Ryozo. It was from Seijro. According to the letter, Ryozo was to go home early before Seijro.

Yae informed Ryozo that outsiders can not stay because the ceremony was drawing near. Her father gave Seijro special permission to see it though.

Ryozo whispered to Yae he would come for her and Sae on the day of the ceremony. Yae tensed for a moment, then pretended she didn't hear and left.

The next day, Ryozo left the village. The text ended there.

Mio wondered if Ryozo came back on the day of the ceremony. She then exited the room and entered another. In the center of the room was a table surrounded by chairs. On the table was another diary.

Mio picked it up and examined it. It was Itsuki's diary.

According to the diary, Itsuki failed the ritual. He could not make Mitsuki into a butterfly. He didn't want Yae and Sae to suffer the same pain as he did.

He planned to use a secret passageway, located near the old tree, to sneak the twins out of the village. However, it was currently sealed off.

Long ago some twins tried to use it as their escape route, however they were ambushed. The ceremony master ordered the passageway to be sealed after that.

However, there was a way to unseal. Four pinwheel keys were required to break the seal. Itsuki had already collected one of them.

The other three were located at the following: The Osaka House, the Kiryu House, and the last one was on a tomb in the graveyard.

The text ended there.

So, there was a way to leave the village after all. Mio could check the secret passage out later, right now she had to find Mayu.

She then exited the room and entered another. It was some sort of storage room. Mio searched some boxes and found more film for her camera. In another box, she found some Zero-film. She only had three pieces of it though.

Perhaps it was more powerful than 90-film. Mio then tried to exit the room, but the door wouldn't budge. A mysterious force held it in place.

"_You are needed for the ritual!" _A voice shouted.

Mio turned around and saw three villager ghosts. They all carried scythes in their hands.

Mio aimed her camera at the nearest ghost and fired. A direct hit was scored, the ghost clutched its face in pain.

"_Die!" The ghost hissed._

The ghosts began to advance towards Mio.

Mio quickly switched to 90-film and fired. All three ghosts were caught in the blast. They twisted into white balls and exploded in a flash of light. Three photos popped out of the camera. Mio placed them in her bag.

The mysterious force holding the door in place was gone. Perhaps defeating the ghosts had something to do with it. She opened the door and entered the next room.

It was a bedroom. On the bed was a crimson red diary. Mio picked it up and examined it.

The author of the diary was Chitose Tachibana.

**Entry 1**

_The day after the ceremony, my brother Itsuki came back alone. _

_His black hair was white! _

_Where has my other brother Mutsuki gone? _

_Since Mutsuki disappeared,_

_Itsuki doesn't want to talk. _

_He is still nice to me, but his eyes are always sad. _

_What happened on the day of the ceremony?? _

_Itsuki gave me a bell. _

_My eyes are not too good. The bell will tell him if I go near a dangerous place. _

_Itsuki said he will always come when he hears the bell. _

_He said even if I am hiding away and crying, he will find me. _

**Entry 2**

_Itsuki told me to hold the key for his room. _

_He said I can't let anyone go in there._

_He said if his friend comes, to give the key to his friend. _

_I am so happy that he gave me such an important job! _

_Itsuki's friend came to the house. _

_I was scared so I hid. _

_I couldn't give him the key. _

**Entry 3**

_Because of Yae, Itsuki has been taken away somewhere. _

_How come? _

_Itsuki did nothing to her. _

_It's all her fault for running away! _

The text ended there.

So the villagers did arrest Itsuki after all. Somehow, she already knew that. Perhaps it had been the moment she saw him locked in the jail house.

Mio then saw a picture attached to the back of the diary.

In the picture were two boys with black hair. Both wore kimonos. Standing between the boys was a girl with short black hair. She wore a crimson kimono.

Mio recognized one of the boys.

_That must be Itsuki before his hair turned white. The other must be Mitsuki and the little girl must be Chitose. I wonder who took their picture._

Mio decided she didn't have much time to ponder on this and exited the room. She was now in another corridor.

It lead to a stair case going up. Mio went up the stair case and reached the second floor. Just then she heard Mayu's voice.

"Itsuki…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" Mayu's voiced echoed through the hall.

Mio followed Mayu's voice. It led her to a door and a barred window. Mio tried to open the door but it was locked. She then looked through the barred window.

Sure enough, Mio was on her knees facing a wall.

"I'm sorry Itsuki." Mayu sobbed. "I really am, if only we performed the ritual none of this wouldn't happen."

"Mayu!" Mio shouted. Mayu didn't respond.

The only choice left for Mio was to unlock it with a key, but where could she find it?

"_Give me back my brother!" _A voice shouted.

Mio looked to her right and saw a girl with short black hair standing a few feet away from her. She wore a crimson red kimono and her feet were bare.

Mio recognized her from the photo.

"Chitose." Mio said. "That key Itsuki gave you, it opens the door right?"

"_Maybe."_ Chitose replied. _"But I'm not giving it to you, Yae."_ She then ran down the hallway and ghosted through a nearby door.

Mio sighed and shook her head. That was the third ghost that called her Yae. The first was Itsuki, the second was Sae, and now Chitose.

Mio then entered the room Chitose had traveled too.

The room was empty except for a desk and a chair. On the desk were a few documents. Mio picked them up and examined them.

_**Document 1**_

_The name of the gate to hell is called the x. Those who look into the x are blinded by the x. Those who say x will be silenced by the x. Those who listen to the x will be corrupted by the x._

Mio shuddered, the abyss sounded like a place she didn't want to be at. She then read the next document.

**Document 2**

_When the ceremony is successfully completed, the younger twin becomes a butterfly. When that happens, the younger twin becomes one with the older twin and the x is satisfied._

Mio wondered if she could become one with Mayu. Would sacrificing Mayu accomplish this and if so would it be worth it?

Mio shook the thought off. Right now she had more important tasks to do the ponder on about rituals. That could come later.

Mio cared for Mayu and didn't want her to spend the rest of her life locked in a room. Chitose had to be hiding around here somewhere.

Mio then left the room and entered another. It was a corridor. Mio spotted a small cupboard. She opened it up and spotted a diary. Mio knelt down, crawled into the cupboard, and reached toward the diary.

"_Stay away from that!" _Chitose lunged towards Mio.

Mio pulled her head out of the closet just in time to avoid the attack.

Chitose grabbed the document, exited the closet, ran down the hall, and ghosted through the door.

"Get back here!" Mio ran down the corridor and entered another room.

It was a large room filled with furniture. Chitose was nowhere to be seen. She was probably hiding again.

Spotting a nearby closet, Mio opened it.

"_GO AWAY!" _Chitose screamed and pushed Mio onto a sofa. _"YOUR NOT MY BROTHER!"_

"Just give me the key and I'll leave you alone." Mio replied getting of the sofa.

"_No!" _Chitose shouted. She pushed Mio back on the sofa and began to strangle her.

Ignoring the discomfort, Mio aimed her camera at Chitose and pushed the trigger button.. The blast sent Chitose flying off Mio and crash into the floor.

"_Wah!" Chitose b_egan to cry.

Mio felt a little sorry for Chitose and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Look just give me the key and I'll let you go." Mio said softly.

"Never!" Chitose sobbed. Just then the room turned pitch black.

What just happened?

"_Give me back my brother!" _Chitose shouted.

Mio felt Chitose slam her against a wall.

"I don't have your brother!" Mio shouted.

WHAM!

"Yes you do!" Chitose shouted back. "Don't lie Yae!"

The darkness faded and Mio's vision returned to normal just in time to see Chitose whack her on the head with…a pillow.

"My names not Yae." Mio replied.

"Yes it is." Chitose whacked Mio with the pillow again.

"I'm Mio!" Mio said trying her best to remain calm. "Mio Amakura."

"No." Chitose whacked her with a pillow again. "Your Yae. Yae Kurosawa."

"Will you stop whacking my head with the pillow." Mio said beginning to get annoyed.

"Give me back my brother!" Chitose shouted.

"For the last time!" Mio said. "I don't have your brother!"

"Quiet!" Chitose whacked her with the pillow again.

"Oh that does it." Mio growled. "I tried to reason with you. But now you leave me no choice." She aimed the camera at Chitose and opened fire. The blast sent Chitose flying through the air and slam into a wall.

Mio didn't stop there, she fired several more blasts of 90-film into Chitose.

"_I want my brother back…"_ Chitose groaned as she slumped against the wall.

"I can't give you your brother Chitose." Mio said, her eyes shone a bit of pity. "But I can take you to him."

She then fired the camera at Chitose for the last time. Chitose twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of light.

A photo popped out of the camera. Mio picked it up.

"I'll be sure to deliver you to Itsuki when I get the chance." Mio whispered to the photo of Chitose. She then put it in her bag.

Mio then spotted a key on the floor. It had a bell attached to it. Mio picked it up and gazed at it.

The ritual had caused a lot of people in the village to suffer. Chitose was a pure example of this.

The people were foolish to worship the abyss. The abyss was evil and enjoyed the pain and suffering of other people. The villagers probably sacrificed younger twins because they feared the abyss. The ceremony was performed for their own survival.

Which brought Mio back to what she had been thinking about earlier. Could she become one with Mio.

Mio knew the answer. Yes, she could but it wouldn't be worth it. True they'd always be together but it wouldn't be the same.

Many 'elder' twins became one with their brothers or sisters. But it never brought them happiness. It had the opposite effect.

Akane had became one with Azami, but at a very high price. No more would Akane be able to talk with Azami. No more would Akane be able to hold Azami's hand. No more could Akane share her happiness with Azami.

In the end it drove Akane to the point of depression and insanity.

Itsuki was right, the ritual had to stop. People should not have to have to suffer like that.

With that resolve, Mio exited the room.

--

The trip back to the room Mayu was locked in wasn't that long. Mio used the key to unlock the door, then went inside.

Mayu was nowhere to be seen.

Mio spotted a desk. There was something on it. Upon closer examination, Mio realized it was one of the pin keys needed to unlock the secret passage.

Next to it was a piece of paper. Mio examined the text.

_When the seal at the old tree is broken, the secret passage at the shrine will open._

The shrine, it must be referring to the shrine up on the hill she saw when she first entered the village.

Still, that just left the question where Mayu was.

Just then Mio heard footsteps.

Curious, Mio walked up to the barred window, took a peek, and gasped in horror.

Heading down the hallway was Sae! Of all the ghosts in the village, it just had to be Sae.

Mio watched Sae walk past the window. Mio sure hope she wouldn't enter the room.

Mio then watched in horror as the door knob began to turn. The door opened up to reveal…Mayu!

Mayu ran up to Mio and hugged her.

"Mio…" Mayu rested her head on Mio's shoulder. "Oh Mio, I'm so glad I found you."

"Mayu?" Mio asked. Was this another ghastly trick?

"I don't know what's happening to me." Mayu said. "But no matter what happens, I'll forgive you."

"Mayu…" Mio said. This was no trick, this was really Mayu.

"Don't leave me." Mayu released her hug.

"Of course I won't leave you behind!" Mio placed her hands on Mayu's shoulders. "I've kept looking for you. Now let's get out of here."

"Do you know a way out?" Mayu asked.

"Yes." Mio nodded. "According to some documents, there's a secret passageway at the shrine. In order to activate it though we have to break the seal at the old tree."

"The seal?" Mayu asked.

"In order to break it, four pin keys are required." Mio replied. "I have one of them. I also know the location of the other three. The only thing I don't know is the old tree's location."

"The old tree…" Mayu mused. "I think I know it's location. I can show it to you if you want."

"Very well." Mio nodded. "Lead the way."

The reunited sisters left the room.


	10. Chapter 10: Breaking the Seal

**Chapter 9: Breaking the Seal**

Deep within the ceremony mansion, in a hidden ceremony chamber, the spirits had gathered once more.

All the veiled priests were waiting to see what the Ceremony Master's response would be.

"_So…" _The Ceremony Master said, his voice cold as ice. _"You failed to capture the twins once more."_

"_We tried your holiness," _A priest replied. _"but they were elusive."_

"_Three of the villagers found Yae in the Tachibana House."_ A veiled priest by the name of Naruko reported. _"Unfortunately, she wiped them out with one blast of her box."_

"_And how did you find this information if none of them survived?" _The Ceremony Master asked.

"_I witnessed the event myself." _Naruko replied. _"I think she's becoming more dangerous by the second."_

"_And you didn't help out?" _The Ceremony Master asked.

"_Uh no."_ Naruko replied. _"I thought I should report this information to you."_

"_So you fled like a coward." _The Ceremony Master said, a hint of anger in his voice. "Mourners!"

Two mourners materialized out of thin air.

"_Take this coward away and throw him into the place we dare not speak." _The Ceremony Master ordered.

The mourners grabbed Naruko by the arms and dragged him away.

"_NO! Not that place your holiness!" _Naruko begged. _"Not that place."_

All the priests shuddered. They knew the place Naruko was being dragged to wasn't going to be a pleasant place.

"_Wait, there's still some information I think you'll find very important!" _Naruko shouted.

"_Halt!" _The Ceremony Master barked.

The mourners stopped moving.

"_What kind of information?" _The Ceremony Master asked.

"_The twins plan to escape the village by using a secret passageway." _Naruko replied. _"They've already acquired one of the pin keys to gain access to it."_

"_Release him." _The Ceremony Master ordered.

The mourners released Naruko, then faded away.

"_Gather all the villagers you can find." _The Ceremony Master ordered. _"Have them go into hiding near the shrine. When the twins try to use the secret passageway, ambush them."_

"_Understood your holiness." _Naruko replied. He then turned to leave.

"_Naruko!" _The Ceremony Master shouted.

"_Yes your holiness?"_ Naruko asked.

"_If you do anything to mess this up, the place we do not speak of awaits you." _The Ceremony Master said. _"Dismissed."_

Naruko shuddered before leaving the room. He was treading on thin ice now.

--

Both Mio and Mayu were outside Itsuki's House. Mio was now following Mayu to the old tree. She wasn't sure how long they had been walking.

It felt like a long time though. Mio felt tired and exhausted. Although it was still dark outside, Mio felt it had been over nine hours since they came here. She wondered if the sun ever shined on the village. Probably not, the abyss most likely prevented that.

They then came to a stop. Mio recognized the area. They were at the foot of the hill were the shrine was.

"This way…" Mayu said. She turned left and walked away from the hill.

Mio looked left and saw an old tree with a hole in it. The hole was big enough for them to enter.

"This is the place." Mayu said wearily.

"Are you okay Mayu?" Mio asked.

"I'm fine." Mayu replied. "A little tired but okay."

"I'll go inside." Mio said. "You wait here."

Mayu simply nodded. Mio went through the hole and entered a large room. Mio looked around in amazement. Candles attached to the walls lit the room. There were dolls on a shelf in one corner, an altar near the center, and a strange mechanism at another corner.

"Mayu, you can come on in." Mio said.

Mayu entered the room a few seconds later.

Mio was currently examining the mechanism. It had four key slots on it. This must be the seal Itsuki mentioned on his diary. If all four pin keys were inserted into it, the secret passage at the shrine would open.

Just then Mayu collapsed on the floor.

"Mayu!" Mio exclaimed.

"Just…let…me rest." Mayu weakly replied.

"Mayu are you okay?" Mio placed her hand on Mio's shoulder.

"I'm…I'm so sorry…" Mayu's eyelids slowly shut. Within seconds she was fast asleep.

_Poor Mayu, she must be exhausted. I should let her rest here for now._

Just then, Mio spotted a key on the floor. Mio picked it up and examined it. It wasn't a pin key. It was a normal key. Mio wondered what door it opened.

Just then, images began to flood her mind.

**Sae at the entrance of the jail house…**

**She used the key to open the door…**

**She then went inside…**

The images ended.

The jail house. Could that be the key that unlocked the door to the jail house? There was only one way to find out.

Mio exited the old tree.

"Itsuki…" Mayu muttered in her sleep. "This is all our fault…"

--

The trip to the jail house didn't take that long. Mio used the key to unlock the door.

As she went inside, her head began to throb in pain. Images began to flood her made.

**Sae entered the jail house…**

**She looked behind the bars, then gasped in shock and horror…**

**On the other side of the bars, Itsuki was suspended in midair with a rope around his neck…**

**The rope was attached to the ceiling…**

**Sae realized Itsuki had hung himself…**

**A single tear fell from Sae's eye and streamed down her cheek…**

**Three villagers stood behind Sae…**

"**The ritual." One of the villagers said…**

**Sae lowered her head…**

_**Itsuki, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If only we had performed the ritual, you'd still be alive. This my fault. This Yae's fault too. Both of us are to blame.**_

The pain subsided.

Mio looked through the bars and gasped. On the other side of the bars, a skeleton hung from the ceiling.

She then realized what happened. After Sae was dragged back to the village, she decided to visit Itsuki for a final time. But Itsuki hung himself after he was arrested. Sae blamed herself and Yae for Itsuki's death.

Just then, Itsuki materialized out of thin air next to the skeleton.

"Yae…" Itsuki said. "I never was able to make Mitsuki into a butterfly. I wonder if he'd ever forgive me."

"Itsuki…" Mio said.

"The moment I set both twins free, my job was done." Itsuki went on. "My main role in life was over."

Mio remained silent.

"Sae blamed herself for my death after that." Itsuki lowered his head. "If only I had lived a bit longer, perhaps things would've turned out differently. Perhaps Sae would've had the capacity to move on."

"Itsuki…" Mio softly said.

"I know your name is Mio." Itsuki said. "But you remind me of Yae."

"I found Mayu." Mio said. "But in order to get to her, I had to fight Chitose."

Mio pulled out Chitose's photo and handed it to Itsuki.

"Somehow, I knew it would eventually come to that." Itsuki gazed at the photo. "Ever since I was arrested, Chitose blamed Yae for my departure. I knew she'd harbor resentment for her, even after death."

"Itsuki I-" Mio tried to apologize but was cut off.

"So you found Mayu then." Itsuki said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Mio replied. "She's resting by the old tree now. We plan to use the secret passage for our escape."

"Then my job here is done." Itsuki said. "I can finally rest in piece now."

"Itsuki…" Mio said.

"I'm glad I was able to help you." Itsuki said. "The rest is up to you now."

Itsuki slowly began to fade away.

"Farewell Mio…" Itsuki completely faded away. The photo fell to the floor.

Mio picked it up and examined it.

The photo of Chitose was completely blank now. Both Itsuki and Chitose have finally rested in piece.

Mio was determined to escape the village with Mayu more than ever before. Not only was it for Mayu's sake but for Itsuki's as well.

"Goodbye Itsuki." Mio whispered before leaving the room.

--

Mio decided to search the Osaka House for one of the pin keys. The trip there didn't take long. Soon she was inside once more.

Although Masumi and Miyako no longer haunted the house, Mio kept her camera out just to be safe.

After some searching about, Mio finally entered a storage room. It was full of empty boxes. Mio spotted a closed box in the corner.

Mio slowly opened the box and looked inside. It was pitch black. Mio used her arm to reach into the box. As she stuck her arm inside, a ghastly arm sprang out from the darkness and grabbed Mio's wrist.

Mio yanked her arm back, breaking free of the ghastly arms hold. Another ghastly hand shot up and grabbed the edge of the box. Slowly a ghastly figure began to emerge from the box.

It was a woman with long black hair. She wore a kimono and the long hair covered her eyes.

The ghost slowly climbed out of the box. It then began to run toward Mio.

Mio switched to 61-film and fired it at the ghost.

The woman grunted then faded away. Mio then scanned the walls carefully. The ghost could emerge from any of the walls.

Instead of emerging from one of the walls, she emerged from a nearby box close to Mio. The ghost then rushed towards Mio.

Mio got out of the way, then blasted the ghost again. The ghost grunted before disappearing.

Mio decided to move away from the box, the realized something. The entire room was littered with empty boxes.

Mio spotted the ghost poke her head out of a box a few feet away from her. Mio fired at it but the ghost ducked back inside.

Mio decided to switch to 14-film so she wouldn't waste valuable film.

The ghost poked it's head out of the box again. Mio fired, the ghost ducked back in. Then the ghost emerged from another box and rushed towards Mio.

Mio spun to face the ghost and opened fire. Direct hit! The ghost grunted before vanishing.

The ghost poked her head out of the box again. This time Mio didn't fire. The ghost ducked back inside the box and emerged out of another.

The ghost then rushed toward Mio again. This time Mio fired. The ghost grunted before vanishing.

Mio decided to apply the same strategy again, only except this time she'd use 61-film.

This lasted for a few rounds. Apparently the ghost got annoyed after that, because she began to emerge from walls instead of boxes. Every time she emerged from a wall, she rushed towards Mio.

This made the ghost an easier target because Mio scored a direct hit every time the ghost rushed toward her.

Eventually, the ghost couldn't take much more and twisted into a white ball, then exploded in a flash of light.

A photo popped out of the camera. Mio picked it up and put it in her bag.

Mio then spotted something on the floor. It was a pin key. That just left two more to find now.

--

Mio decided to search the Kiryu House next. The trip there didn't take long. Soon she was inside.

Mio wondered if Akane was still haunting this place. Either way, she decided to keep her guard up.

Mio searched the first floor but had no success.

She then searched the second floor. Within minutes she had almost everywhere, she was now searching the last room.

It was a study. Mio spotted a desk with some diary entries on it. She picked them up and examined them. The diary was written by a veiled priest named Naruko.

**Day 1**

_Today the ritual was a success. I thought for a while it was going to fail. Akane seemed to have trouble doing her part. I offered to help, but Azami said she wanted Akane to do it by herself. Soon it was over._

**Day 2**

_Ever since the ceremony, Akane has been depressed. She has kept herself locked up in her room._

_Her father Yoshitatsu is a good friend of mine. He's currently concerned about Akane's health._

_During our conversation, Akane came down. _

_Her eyes were red from crying earlier. If Akane came down perhaps she has cheered up._

_I was wrong, she only came down to get water. Yoshitatsu tried to cheer her up. It didn't seem to do any good._

_I tried to inform her that she had saved the entire village from being massacred._

_She screamed these very exact words to me._

"_GIVE ME BACK AZAMI!"_

_She ran upstairs and slammed the door to her room._

_Akane's outburst has given Yoshitatsu an idea how to cheer Akane up._

_He plans to build a duplicate life sized doll of Azami._

_Perhaps that may calm her down a bit._

**Day 3**

_It's finished. Yoshitatsu has finally completed construction of the duplicate._

_Akane has calmed down now._

_She treats the doll like it's actually Azami. _

_I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do. But at least she's not depressed anymore._

**Day 4**

_Last night the most bizarre thing happened. Someone tried to break into my room._

_I got scared and hid under the covers. After awhile the culprit gave up and walked away._

_I slowly opened the door, peeked down the hallway and saw a shadowy figure._

_At first I thought it was Akane, but on closer inspection it was the doll._

_That morning I tried to tell the other priests what happened. They thought I was crazy._

_I then went to inform Yoshitatsu. Apparently he saw the doll too._

_We both came to the conclusion the doll was possessed._

_Yoshitatsu plans to hang the doll then throw it into the place we do not speak._

_Unfortunately, Akane has disabled the mechanism that allows access to the place we do not speak._

_The reason the mechanism is disabled is because Akane broke the doll apart._

_We'll need to get the pieces._

**Day X**

_It's been awhile since I wrote, but I can't seem to shake the memory off my mind._

_I went to visit Yoshitatsu to help him search for the parts._

_I went to his study and saw Akane strangling Yoshitatsu. Within seconds he was dead._

_I asked her how she could do that to her own father._

_Her only response was this._

"_Why do you kill?"_

_Her actions, her behavior, they were all automated._

_Akane was behaving like a doll. No, she has become the doll!_

_She was soon upon me, trying to strangle me to death._

_Spotting an pen with a sharp point on the floor, I grabbed it, aimed it at her neck and…and…_

_I don't know why things went out of control._

_I dragged her body and hid it in a secret closet in the study. People will assume that Akane killed her father, ran away and never came back._

_If only I had just left Akane alone, none of this would have happened. The doll would never have been built._

_Even now it still haunts me to this day._

The text ended there.

That's it, a secret closet. The only place she hadn't looked. It was in the study. After some searching, Mio found a rotating door forged in the wall.

It lead her to the closet. It was a small empty room. In one corner there was a skeleton. In another corner was a pin key. Mio picked it up and put it in her bag. That was three down, only one more to go.

Mio tried to exit the closet but the door wouldn't budge. A mysterious force held it in place.

"_Why did you kill…" _A soft yet angry voice called from behind.

Mio turned around and saw Akane.

Mio knew Akane was angry about the doll she _killed _earlier. There was barely enough space to move around, Akane had the advantage or so it seemed…

Mio began to load Zero-film into the camera as Akane advanced forward. Mio aimed the camera and fired.

The room went completely white. Mio heard Akane scream loudly. When the brightness died down, Akane twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of light.

A photo popped out of the camera. Mio put it in her bag. She then left the closet and entered the study.

She then noticed a mirror on the wall. That's odd, she didn't recall seeing that when she first entered the room.

Mio looked into the mirror and gasped in shock at what she saw. Instead of seeing her reflection, she saw a girl with short black hair wearing a white kimono.

At first Mio thought it was Sae, but on closer inspection there was no bloodstains on the kimono.

This must be Yae.

Before Mio had much time to react, Yae lunged out of the mirror, straight at Mio, then vanished. Mio felt a warm presence enter her body. Images began to enter her mind.

--

_Yae went back to the village. She had to rescue Sae before it was to late. She finally reached the village entrance, but the village was gone._

"_Sae!" Yae shouted. "Sae!"_

_Yae began to walk through the empty field. _

"_Sae!" Yae shouted out again. "SAAAAAEEEEEE!"_

_Yae's shouts echoed, but Sae was nowhere to be found._

_Minutes past by, then hours._

_Ryozo finally arrived just as he had told Yae earlier, but the village was gone. Only Yae was left._

_She was on her knees crying bucket loads of tears._

"_What happened?" Ryozo asked._

"_I don't know." Yae sobbed. "I don't know."_

"_Where's Sae?" Ryozo asked._

"_I don't know." Yae looked up at Ryozo. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "When I got back, the village was gone."_

"_I'm sorry…" Ryozo placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her._

_Yae buried her head into his chest and continued sobbing._

_Ryozo took Yae under his wing after that._

--

The images ended.

Mio opened her eyes and woke up in a graveyard. How did she end up here.

That definitely wasn't a dream. It was the echo of events that happened in the past.

Yae did comeback for Sae. But the village was gone when she arrived.

Ryozo then came back to the village just like Itsuki's letter instructed him. But the village was gone, all what was left was Yae.

After the sad exchange of words, Ryozo took care of Yae. One thing did bother Mio though, did Yae actually show her those images.

Mio could ponder about it later, right now she had to go collect the last pin key. It should be in an altar in this grave yard somewhere.

Moving past a few grave stones, she found the altar. Attached to the altar was a pin key and a spider web.

A crimson butterfly was caught in the web. A spider slowly approached the butterfly. Mio quickly squashed the spider with her foot and freed the butterfly.

The butterfly flew onto Mio's hand, fluttered its wings a few times, then flew away.

Was this the butterfly's way of thanking her? Mio wasn't sure. Shrugging it off she approached the altar and easily removed the pin key.

"_Wait…" _A voice called from behind.

Mio spun around. Behind her was the woman with the broken neck she met at the Sky Bridge.

"_It hurts…" _The ghost began to advance towards Mio. _"It hurts…"_

This ghost was weak, it wasn't worth using any valuable film on her.

Mio equipped her camera with 7-film and blasted her. Within a few minutes, the ghost twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of light.

A photo popped out of the camera. Mio placed it in her bag.

With all four pin keys collected, Mio headed back to the old tree.

--

The trip to the old tree was short. Soon Mio entered it, Mayu was still sleeping.

Mio inserted all four pin keys into the mechanism. The sound of wind underground could be heard.

Small windmills on the wall began to turn. Mio heard the sound of something being unlocked. The seal must be broken now.

Mio then placed her hand on Mayu's shoulder to wake her up.

Just then Mio's vision turned white.

--

Mio found herself walking through a long dark tunnel. Finally she entered a large room. In the center of the room was a square shaped pit.

This must be the abyss the research documents talked about. If the documents was correct, anyone who looked into the abyss became blind.

Standing on the other side of the abyss was a mourner.

"Where is my sister?" Mayu asked.

The mourner pointed down into the abyss.

Mio looked into the abyss. All went dark.

--

Mayu's vision returned to normal. What was that about? A vision of the future? God forbid.

Mio shuddered. Probably the spirits trying to play tricks on her.

Mio tried to wake up Mayu again.

"Mayu wake up, the seal has been broken." Mio said. "We can escape this place now."

"Mio about that time, when we were little." Mayu slowly opened her eyes. "Back when I could still run at full speed. When we played in the woods a lot."

"What about it?" Mio asked.

"It wasn't an accident." Mayu confessed. "I fell down the slope on purpose."

"What!?" Mio gasped in shock. "What are you talking about? It was an accident right? I ran too far ahead and you got exhausted. You leaned to the side to rest and accidentally fell down."

"No…" Mayu shook her head sadly. "I fell on purpose. You were going to leave me…"

--

"_Come on Mayu!" Mio shouted. "Hurry up or I'm going to leave you behind."_

_Both twin sisters were running as fast as they could._

"_Mio please wait up." Mayu begged. But Mio was too far ahead._

_No, she was going to leave her! No, there had to be something she could do to prevent this!_

_Then an idea struck her dead on._

_It wasn't pretty but Mayu was desperate._

"_Help!" Mayu shouted. She then leaned over and fell down the slope. "AHHH!"_

_It worked! Mio stopped, she came back for her!_

_Mayu managed to give a small smile of triumph before she lost conscious._

--

"I didn't mean to break my leg." Mayu said. "I just didn't want you to leave me."

"Mayu…" Mio said.

"I just wanted us to be together forever." Mayu said. "But I realize that's not possible now."

"What are you talking about?" Mio asked. "We promised we'd always be together."

"I thought the same for awhile." Mayu replied. "But in the end we'll grow old and die separately."

"Mayu…" Mio whispered. "What are you talking about? What are you saying?"

"However, there is a way for us to be together forever." Mayu continued. "It was in front of us the moment we entered this village."

Mio remained silent.

"If we perform the ritual, we can become one." Mayu finally concluded. "Once were one, we'll always be together forever." Spotting a nearby altar, Mayu laid down on it. "Once you kill me, throw my body into the abyss."

Mio just stared at her in shock.

All these years Mio had always blamed herself for Mayu's leg.

Now it turned out it was Mayu's own doing.

Still, Mio couldn't hold it against her. All Mayu wanted was to be together.

"Kill me…" Mayu whispered. "So we can be together…forever."

Mio wanted to be together forever with Mayu too. But Mio knew becoming one with her sister wasn't the solution. It was the complete opposite.

Not to mention Mio wasn't sure where the abyss was located anyway and even if she did she still wouldn't do it.

Finally, Mio gave her answer.

"No." Mio replied.

"What?" Mayu gasped. "What do you mean no?"

"No. I will not strangle you." Mio calmly replied. "We're simply going to go home."

"But it's the only way we can become one!" Mayu wailed. She was now sitting on the altar.

"I don't want to become one with you!" Mio shouted. "I want to be together with you!"

"But if were one, we'll be together permanently." Mayu's eyes connected with Mio's.

Mayu's eyes were full of desperation. Mio knew Mayu was afraid of being abandoned. She knew Mayu was willing to do anything to be together with her.

"Please." Mayu begged. "Lets become one. I don't want to be alone."

"You don't understand." Mio softly replied. "Performing the ritual won't allow us to be together forever. True it would allow us to become one, but it wouldn't be the same."

"What do you mean?" Mayu asked.

"When we become one, you'll become nothing more than a mere memory." Mio said. "No more will we be able to talk to each other. No more will we be able to sit down next to each other and enjoy each others company. No more will we be able to share our happiness near each other."

"Mio…" Mayu said.

"Perhaps you might be right about us growing old and dying separately." Mio sat down next to Mayu. "But performing the ritual is a fate worse than dying separately."

Mayu remained silent.

"Ever since our parents died, you're the only closest thing I had to a family." Mio continued. "I love you too deeply to let you go."

"You what?" Mayu asked.

"I love you Mayu." Although both twins loved each other. This was the first time Mio admitted it to Mayu. "So please, lets abandon the stupid ritual and go home."

"Oh Mio!" Mayu hugged her sister tightly. "I love you too. I'm sorry for being selfish."

"It's not your fault." Mio hugged her as well. "This place has been making you act weird and make poor judgments."

"I guess I was just afraid of being left behind." Mayu said. "I never had let it bother me that much in the past, but ever since I entered this place, it's kept bothering me recently."

"Everything is going to be fine." Mio assured her. "I wont leave you behind. I'll make sure that we both escape together."

"Thank you Mio." Mayu whispered. "Thank you."

With the conflict resolved, both sisters continued to embrace each other in sisterly love.


	11. Chapter 11: Crashing the Ceremony

**Chapter 10: Crashing the Ceremony**

Both Mio and Mayu stood at the foot of the hill.

"If we reach the shrine, we can leave the village." Mio said.

Mayu nodded. The twins began to walk up the stone stairs leading to the shrine.

They were both ready to leave the village.

--

Naruko watched the two twins walk up the stairs from the shrine's window. The seal had been broken. It was now time to launch the signal.

--

Mio and Mayu continued to walk up the stairs. All of a sudden the sound of drums could be heard. Mio wondered where they could be coming from.

Mayu looked back, then gasped.

"Mio, behind us!" Mayu shouted.

Mio looked back and gasped in horror.

At the bottom of the steps was a large number of villager ghosts. A whole mob of them. All equipped with torches, poles, and scythes.

The ghosts began to run up the steps.

"Run!" Mio shouted.

Both twins began to run up the stairs. Unfortunately Mayu wasn't a good runner with that broken leg of hers.

As they neared the top of the stairs, the ghosts began to close on them.

Just then three ghosts emerged from the shrine. They were bald and had empty eye sockets. They had been stationed at the shrines front door to prevent the twins from escaping.

Mio wasn't going to let that stop them. She loaded 61-film into her camera and opened fire. The ghosts couldn't stand up to the blast. They twisted into white balls then exploded in flashes of light.

Three photos popped out of the camera. Mio didn't bother to pick them up.

"The entrance is clear. Let's go." Mio looked back at Mayu, then gasp in horror.

The ghosts had surrounded Mayu.

"Mayu!" Mio shouted.

"Mio!" Mayu shouted. "Help!"

Mio aimed her camera at the ghosts and opened fire. Three other ghosts flew in front of the camera and blocked the shot.

Before Mio had much time to react several more ghosts flew towards Mio. While Mio was firing away at them, the ghosts surrounding Mayu took her away.

Soon Mio found herself cornered against the front door of the shrine. Fighting them at close quarters was suicide. Mio had learned that the hard way when she fought Miyako and Masumi.

Mio retreated into the shrine for extra space. The ghosts followed her inside and got blasted.

The ghosts were weak but there were sure a lot of them. If this kept up, she would become captured as well.

She then decided to use the Zero-film. If her calculations were correct, most of the ghosts had left by now. Hopefully this attack would be strong enough to get rid of the remaining ones.

Just as the mob of ghosts surrounded Mio, she opened fire.

--

Naruko watched the battle in satisfaction. Although the twin was doing a good job at defending herself, she couldn't keep it up forever.

Soon the vast number of villagers would overwhelm her. Within minutes the ghosts surrounded her.

Then, something totally unexpected happened. The entire room went white. Naruko ghosted through a nearby wall just in time to evade the lights reach. When the light died down, Naruko went back to the room the battle had took place at.

To his surprise, every single last villager was turned into a photograph.

Inconceivable, it was just one girl.

How could a single girl wipe out an entire mob of villagers. To make things worse, he couldn't call for reinforcements either. He had ordered them to take the other twin to the ceremony mansion.

As much as Naruko wanted to flee, he knew he had to deal with the problem himself now.

If the twin escaped, Ryokan would have him taken to the place he dared not speak of.

He then materialized into existence.

--

Mio unloaded the Zero-film and switched to 14-film. She only had one shot of Zero-film left now.

Mio then examined the room, the floor was littered with several photos. That Zero-film sure packed a giant punch.

Now that the ghosts were at of the way, she was safe for the time being. The secret passage behind the altar was open, but she had no intention on leaving the village without Mayu. Speaking of which, were did those ghosts take her anyway.

Just then, a veiled priest materialized into existence.

"_Lord Ryokan wants your presence at the ceremony mansion."_ The veiled priest said flatly. _"The time for the ritual is near."_

Ryokan, she heard that name somewhere before. Aha! Now she remembered.

"Ryokan…" Mio mused. "That's the name of the ceremony master."

"_Correct."_ The veiled priest replied. _"Now follow me."_

"I know where it is." Mio glared at the veiled priest. "I can get there myself."

"_I have orders to escort you there."_ The veiled priest said. _"Lord Ryokan has suspicions that you might try to escape again."_

"I have no intention in participating in the ritual." Mio replied. "I plan to rescue my sister, then escape. And before you say anything else, this is NOT my destiny."

"_It is your duty."_ The veiled priest replied.

"No it isn't." Mio shook her head. "My duty is to protect Mayu."

"_Are you denying the salvation for the village?"_ The veiled priest asked.

"The villagers are already dead." Mio sighed. "They brought that upon themselves the moment they started worshipping the abyss and giving in to its twisted demands."

"_Watch your tongue!"_ The veiled priest barked. _"Th-"_

"That word is taboo." Mio cut him off. "You fear the abyss, so you fear to speak its name."

"_Silence!"_ The veiled priest barked.

"What, you don't like me saying it?" Mio asked. "Well that's too bad, I can say it whenever I want. Abyss! Abyss! Abyss! Abyss! Abyss!"

"_Why you little infidel."_ The veiled priest growled. _"You shall die for your heresy, then I'll drag your soul back to the ceremony mansion." _He then held his stave in attack position.

Mio opened fire. The veiled priest grunted in pain before vanishing.

He then emerged from a wall, rushed at Mio, and prepared to swing his stave at her.

Mio fired at him before he even had the chance. The veiled priest growled and vanished again.

Mio scored a direct hit every time he emerged from a wall.

"_What are you!?"_ The priest asked in horror. He was beginning to feel weaker every time he got blasted. _"Only a god can be this good!"_

"I'm not a goddess." Mio replied. "I'm just a regular girl that just cares for her sister." She then blasted the veiled priest again. "As for me being good, lets just say your stealth stinks and leave it at that."

Mio then blasted him again. The veiled priest slumped against the wall.

"_You can't run away from the ritual…" _The veiled priest groaned. _"You cant…Yae…"_

Mio gave the priest a dark look.

"My. Name. Is. Not. Yae." She blasted him with a 61-film.

The veiled priest couldn't take much more, he twisted into a white ball then exploded in a flash of light.

A photo popped out of the camera. Mio picked it up and glared at it.

"My name is Mio." Mio told the photo. "Mio Amakura, remember that." She then placed it in her bag.

With that out of the way, she exited the shrine.

--

The trip to the Ceremony Mansion took a few minutes.

Soon Mio was on the bridge that extended over a wide river and connected to the ceremony mansion.

At the other side of the bridge, Mayu was being escorted by several veiled priests.

"Mayu!" Mio shouted.

Although Mayu didn't turn to face her, she did stop. The veiled priests stopped as well.

"_The two chosen children, shall ascend to heaven, in the wings of a butterfly." _Mayu said. Her voice sounded different.

"_The butterfly, that will save this village." _Mayu then changed. White mist surrounded her. When it faded away she had changed into…Sae!

"_That is how it was meant to be." _Sae looked back at Mio, her face was calm for the first time.

Sae and the priests then ghosted through the door.

Mio stood there flabbergasted. All this time, Sae had been the one responsible for Mayu's odd behavior and odd decisions.

Sae must have wanted her to strangle Mayu. So she influenced Mayu to beg to be killed.

Mio was not going to let Sae or anyone of those ghosts take her sister away. She would not let Sae torment Mayu like that.

Mio then walked across the bridge. At the other side was a diary. Mio picked it up and examined it.

It was a diary shared by Yae and Sae.

_When we were small, we once went to the river that flows out of the village. That day we made a promise. We said we'd always stay together, forever._

_Even if we left the village, we wouldn't part._

_Yae_

Mio knew what river Yae was talking about. It was the same river she and Mayu made a promise too. They promised they'd always be together forever.

Mio wondered if that was possible anymore. What Mayu (or possibly Sae) said had some truth, they would grow old and die separately.

However, Mio knew that performing the ritual wasn't the right choice either.

She then turned to the next page.

_We promised to always be together._

_But my body is weak, and I might not be able to follow you._

_You might leave me behind…_

_Just thinking about being alone scares me._

_As we grow older, we'll grow apart…_

_We we're born together, as one._

_I want to be one with you again Yae._

_Then we can be together forever._

_Sae_

The text ended their.

Mio dropped the diary. Sae was a fool. She wanted Yae to strangle her so they could become one.

But becoming one would not allow them to be together forever. True, they may have been born as one at one point.

But performing the ritual was a twisted way of making them become one. If Yae had strangled Sae, Sae would have become part of Yae.

She would become nothing more but a mere memory. A butterfly as the villagers referred to it.

Mio would not let that happen to Mayu.

She then pushed the main gate open and proceeded to the ceremony mansion.

--

As soon as Mio entered the ceremony mansion, her flashlight burned out again.

However, a crimson butterfly landed on it. The flashlight turned back on.

"Thanks." Mio said.

The butterfly flickered it's wings in response, then flew away.

Could that be the same butterfly she freed from the spider web? Mio shrugged the thought off. She could wonder about it later, right now she had to rescue Mayu.

She then proceeded to walk through the corridors.

Ghosts with decapitated limbs appeared into view. Mio recognized them as victims of the Kusabi's rampage.

As the ghosts began to advance towards Mio, she aimed her camera at them and opened fire.

Soon the ghosts were part of her photo collection.

Mio continued to walk through the hallways. Any ghost that dared get into her path was at the mercy of her camera.

Eventually she reached a room.

It was the same room Mio and Mayu first met the veiled priests. On the altar was a diary.

Mio picked it up and examined it. It was a diary written by Sae.

_If I stay here, someday Yae will comeback for me._

_Can I become a butterfly without her._

_If I could, I'd always be near the village, waiting._

_Waiting at the place we made our promise._

_She'll come, I know she will._

_Sae _

The text ended there.

At this point Mio knew that Sae didn't fall down the slope by accident. She fell down on purpose.

Mio knew why. She wanted to become one with Yae. Perhaps if Sae had known the full details of the ceremony, maybe she would've escaped with Yae.

Spotting a staircase that went down, Mio descended down it.

She walked down a hallway and emerged into a courtyard.

At the other side was Sae.

"_Yae, you finally came for me." _Sae said_. "You have no idea how long I've waited. The ceremony will begin soon. Our father is waiting for us beyond this door. I'm sure he'll be pleased to know you've returned."_

Sae then ghosted through the door behind her.

Mio ran up to the door and opened it.

She entered a small room. At the other side of the room was a door. Mio opened it and entered a circular room with an altar in the center.

Standing in front of the altar were a few veiled priests and figure dressed in robes standing in the shadows.

Mio was able to recognize it though.

It was Ryokan, the father of Yae and Sae. Also the Ceremony Master.

"_Yae, my daughter." _Ryokan said. _"At last you've returned."_

His voice sounded like dry wind. Mio found that a little disturbing, but she wasn't scared. After a moment of silence, Mio finally spoke up.

"Where is my sister?" Mio asked.

"_She's currently being escorted to the abyss."_ Ryokan calmly replied. _"You'll see her soon enough."_

"Where's the abyss?" Mio asked.

"_The door behind me leads to it."_ Ryokan answered. _"Don't think of trying to run ahead without an escort, I have the key to unlock it."_

"Then all I have to do is defeat you to get it." Mio aimed her camera at Ryokan and fired.

Ryokan grunted before vanishing.

"_Get her!" _Ryokan's voice ordered the priests.

The priests began to advance toward Mio.

Mio loaded 90-film into her camera and opened fire at them.

Within a few mintues, they were part of Mio's photo collection.

"Show yourself Ryokan!" Mio shouted. "I know your still there!"

"_As you wish." _Ryokan materialized. _"Why do you continue to run from your destiny?"_

"It's not my destiny." Mio replied. "Why are you so persistent in performing the ritual?"

"_It is for the good of the village Yae." _Ryokan replied.

"That's a load of nonsense." Mio said. "The ritual ended up wiping out the entire village."

"_Only because you ran away Yae." _Ryokan calmly replied.

"I'm not Yae." Mio growled.

"_Disown me all you want." _Ryokan said. _"Your services are still required."_

"I beg to differ." Mio said. "I have no plans on performing the ritual. The only good that did was cause people to suffer."

"_As long as there is suffering, the people will survive." _Ryokan replied.

"What kind of existence is that?" Mio asked.

"_Yae my child…" _Ryokan calmly said. _"There are those that must suffer, so the villagers can continue to live on happily with their lives."_

"I strongly disagree with that." Mio shook her head. "Everyone deserves the right to live. No one should have to be sacrificed."

"_I grow tired of your arguments Yae." _Ryokan sighed. _"This is your destiny, accept it."_

"Why don't you accept yours instead?" Mio aimed her camera at him and fired.

Ryokan grunted before vanishing again.

"_So be it." _Ryokan's voice echoed. _"If you won't accept your destiny, then you shall suffer a horrible fate."_

Ryokan then emerged from a wall. He stepped out of the shadows into the light.

Mio gasped in horror. Ryokan had no skin. He was a complete skeleton dressed in robes. His eye sockets weren't empty though. He had a pair of yellow eyes.

He reminded her of the grim reaper, only except he had no scythe.

"_A fate worse than death…" _Ryokan fired a white sphere from his hand.

Mio ran out to the way and fired at Ryokan.

Ryokan grunted before vanishing. He then emerged from another wall and fired three small spheres.

Mio tried to evade them, but the spheres homed onto her. They struck her in rapid succession.

Mio felt as if an icy projectile tore through her soul. She knelt to the ground and clutched her chest in pain.

She then saw Ryokan emerge from a wall. He aimed his palm at Mio and fired another ghastly white sphere at her.

Mio managed to roll out of the way just in time as the sphere struck a wall.

Ryokan then faded away, but Mio knew he'd be back soon. If he fired those homing shots at her again, she was a goner. There had to be a way to counter it.

Wait! The spheres were ghastly just like the ghosts. An idea began to form.

Ryokan emerged from the shadows and fired three homing projectiles.

Mio quickly switched to 14-film and fired at the projectiles. The projectiles vanished from existence.

"_Not possible!" _Ryokan's skeletal jaw dropped open in shock.

Mio used this opportunity to fire a 61-film at him. Ryokan grunted before vanishing.

Every time Ryokan fired a projectile at Mio, she cancelled it out with her camera, then scored a free shot at him.

After a few rounds of this, Ryokan stood in one place and frantically fired white spheres from his hands.

This made him an easy target however. Mio easily pumped several 61-film shots into him.

"_I…I mustn't fail." _Ryokan groaned before slumping against a wall.

"You just did." Mio informed him.

"_Even if I am destroyed, the ceremony will still commence."_ Ryokan said. _"If you won't do your duty, the ritual will have to be performed with Sae alone."_

"Your insane!" Mio shouted. "Do you have any idea what will happen?"

"_I have to try…for the sake of the village…" _Ryokan said weakly. _"Yae…why did you run away?"_

Mio fired the camera at him for the final time.

Ryokan twisted into a white ball and exploded in a flash of light. A single photo popped out of the camera.

Mio picked it up and placed it in her bag.

With the Ceremony Master vanquished, there would be no more rituals in the future. Akane, Azami, Chitose, Itsuki, Mitsuki, and all the other victims had been avenged.

However, this was no time to be celebrating. Mio still had to stop the current ritual from being accomplished.

Spotting the key on the floor, Mio picked it up and used it to unlock the door. She then went down the stairs toward her final destination.

_Hang on there Mayu, I'm coming._


	12. Chapter 12: Hellish Abyss

**Chapter 11: Hellish Abyss**

As Mio descended down the stairs, she heard Mayu's voice.

"Mio…no…don't come near…save yourself…run away…" Mayu's voice echoed.

Mio finally reached the bottom of the stairs and began to walk through a corridor.

"_Yae…come here…hurry…" _Sae's gleeful voice echoed.

"Mio don't listen to her…" Mayu's voice echoed. "She's trying to deceive you."

Mio's walk turned to a run.

"_You'll come for me, Yae…" _Sae's voice calmly echoed. _"I know you will…"_

Mio was almost near the end of the corridor.

"_We promised we'd always be together, so we ran away…" _Sae's voice echoed. _"But everyone died…"_

At the end of the corridor was a door. Mio opened it and entered an underground tunnel.

Mio continued to run down the tunnel. Every once and awhile, a few mourners would patrol the tunnel.

Mio kept quiet and was able to easily sneak past them.

After several minutes of walking, she reached the end of the tunnel.

"_Yae…you've finally come for me…" _Sae's voice echoed. _"You've finally come…we can be…one…"_

Mio finally entered a large cavern.

"_I knew you'd finally come for me…" _Sae's voice continued. _"Let's continue the ritual…"_

The cavern was illuminated by a few torches. At the center of the cavern was a circular stone altar carved onto the floor.

On the altar were a few objects.

Mio examined them.

A circular glass lens and document.

Mio examined the document. It was a report written by Ryokan Kurosawa.

_Two mirrors are required for the ceremony. The Holy Mirror and the Sacred Mirror._

_The Holy Mirror is used for the Purification Ceremony, the Sacred Mirror is used for the Crimson Ritual._

_The Purification Ceremony requires both twins to be isolated from the rest of the village. At the end of the purification ceremony, both twins must look into it._

_The Sacred Mirror is kept in the ritual chamber, it purges corrupted spirits, allowing them to rest in peace._

The text ended there.

So this was the Sacred Mirror. It looked like a regular camera lens. She then removed the current lens out of the camera and replaced it with the Sacred Mirror.

The Sacred Mirror gave the camera a clear vision.

At the other side of the cavern, Mio spotted the entrance to another tunnel.

As Mio approached it, she heard footsteps from behind.

Mio turned around and saw Sae being escorted by a group of veiled priests.

Before Mio had the chance to react, her head began to throb in pain. Images began to enter her mind.

--

_The veiled priests had escorted Sae to the abyss. Ryokan and a few mourners were awaiting them. _

_**Forever…**_

_A few priests were attaching a rope to the ceiling._

_Another veiled priest was having a discussion with Ryokan._

"_Your holiness." The veiled priest said. "No one has dared to perform the ritual with a single twin before."_

"_I know." Ryokan replied. "But I must try, for the sake of the village."_

"_Your holiness, such an action could be risky." The veiled priest said. "I beg you to reconsider. We should hold this off and continue to search for Yae."_

"_There is not much time left." Ryokan replied. "The time for the ritual is now or never."_

_Just then another veiled priest approached them. _

"_Your holiness, the rope has been secured." The veiled priest reported. "We can perform the ritual whenever your ready."_

_Ryokan gave a brief nod._

_Soon Yae was hanged. Two mourners threw her dead body into the abyss._

_**I'll wait forever…**_

_All of a sudden the entire room began to rumble._

"_Wh-What's happening?" One of the veiled priests asked._

"_Could this be the repentance?" Another muttered._

_Just then they saw something emerge from the abyss._

_Ryokan stared at it in disbelief, this could not be possible. It had to be an hallucination._

_He tore away the veil covering his face and saw it with his own eyes._

_Standing in front of the abyss was Sae! _

"_Sae?" Ryokan asked. "Is that you?"_

"_Hello father." Sae grinned. She then lunged at him._

_She ghosted her hand through Ryokan's robe, through his skin, muscles, into his rib cage, grabbed his heart, and yanked it out._

_Ryokan fell to the ground dead instantly._

_Sae held the heart in her hand. Blood from the heart dripped down and stained the lower part of her kimono._

_She then squeezed the heart and it exploded into bloody pieces._

_Sae then began to laugh maniacally._

"_Run!" One of the veiled priests shouted._

_The priests began to exit the room. The rumbling began to intensify. A jet black ghost emerged from the abyss. It was the Kusabi._

_Soon the darkness escaped the abyss. It spread through the underground tunnels as if a floodgate had been opened. Within seconds, it engulfed the entire village._

_Screams of horror could be heard, followed by the sound of Sae's laughter._

--

The images ended.

Mio decided to proceed onward. As she approached the tunnel entrance several priests ran out of it.

Mio got her camera ready, but the priests paid no attention to her. They ran past her and left the large cavern.

Mio soon found out why when the Kusabi entered the cavern.

What had once been Seijro Makabe, the folklorist, was now a shrieking monstrosity.

The Kusabi was currently chasing a priest that fell behind. It caught up and sliced the priest in half.

What happened next sent chills down Mio's spine.

The priest twisted into a white ball. The Kusabi grabbed it, then _ate_ it.

It then spotted Mio.

Mio had other plans however, and becoming this guys lunch was not one of them.

The Kusabi roared and lunged at Mio.

Mio aimed her camera at it and fired.

The Kusabi roared in shock as the blast struck it dead on. The Kusabi then vanished.

Ryokan's report was correct. The Sacred Mirror indeed have the ability to vanquish evil spirits that her previous camera lens couldn't.

The Kusabi materialized and tried to slice Mio in half.

Mio got out of the way and fired.

The Kusabi roared in agony and faded away again.

Mio then switched to 90-film and waited for the Kusabi to reappear.

The Kusabi materialized and fired three skull like projectiles from its mouth.

A few shots of 14-film cancelled out the projectiles. Another shot slammed the Kusabi against the wall.

It roared and lunged at her. Mio calmly got out of the way and fired. She was no longer afraid of the ancient monstrosity.

The Kusabi was just a tortured soul, just like the rest of the ghosts. It only cared about making people suffer the same way it did.

Mio fired her last shot of 14-film at the ancient monstrosity. The Kusabi couldn't take much more.

It twisted into a black sphere. The black sphere began to throb, light began to pour out from it. The sphere then began to glow white. Finally it exploded in a large flash of light.

A single photo popped out of the camera.

It was a photo of Seijro Makabe. Mio put it in her bag.

With the Kusabi out of the way, she could now gain access to the tunnel.

Mio began to walk down the dark tunnel.

She then spotted a note on the ground. Mio picked it up and examined it.

It was written by Sae.

_Yae,_

_You came for me after all._

_Please hurry._

_I'm right below you._

_I know you might not be able to make it in time, but I'll wait for you until the very end._

_Sae_

The text ended there.

Mio continued to walk down the dark tunnel.

Finally she reached a dimly lit room. In the center of the room was a square shaped pit. This was the abyss.

Standing in front of the abyss was Mayu.

"Mayu..." Mio called out to her.

Mayu turned to face Mio. Her face was calm yet her eyes were cold.

"_I've been waiting for you… in a dark, dark place…" _Mayu said in Sae's voice. _"Shall we begin…"_

"No." Mio said. "I wont strangle you."

Mayu burst out laughing. A few minutes later, it died down.

"_Yae…" _Mayu's lips curled into a twisted smile. _"That is not what I asked you."_

"What do you mean?" Mio asked.

"_Two chosen children shall ascend to heaven." _Mayu said. _"They shall ascend to heaven in the wings of a butterfly and save this village."_

"I don't understand what your talking about." Mio said.

"_Yae, the two chosen children are us." _Mayu explained. _"We shall become one. We shall become the butterfly that will save this village. By performing the ritual we shall become that butterfly." _

"By strangling you?" Mio asked.

"_No. We shall become the butterfly by jumping into the abyss together." _Mayu answered.

Mio's stomach turned upside down. She definitely didn't like the sound of that.

"_Shall we begin?" _Mayu asked.

"No." Mio answered.

"_Dear sister, are you leaving me again?" _Mayu slowly began to advance towards Mio. _"You promised that we would always be together."_

"You're not my sister!" Mio aimed her camera at Mayu and fired.

Mayu screamed and clutched her face. White mist began to surround Mayu. A few seconds later, the mist faded away revealing Sae.

"Your just a soul corrupted by the abyss." Mio glared at Sae.

"_Fine!" Sae screamed. "I'll just drag you into the abyss myself!"_

"I wont let you." Mio fired the camera again. "For Mayu's sake, I will survive."

Sae grunted before vanishing.

Mio waited for Sae to reappear. A few seconds later Sae emerged from the shadows.

There was something different about her though.

Her skin and white kimono were red. On closer inspection though, she was actually covered in blood.

Mio wanted to throw up right on the spot. She probably would have if she had eaten a few minutes earlier.

As it was, Mio actually managed to keep her food in. She aimed her camera at Sae and fired her last shot of 61-film.

No effect. Sae giggled and began to advance towards Mio.

Mio loaded 90-film into her camera and fired again. Still no effect.

Sae laughter intensified. She then lunged at Mio.

Mio got out of the way. Sae faded away.

Mio used this time to think. Apparently as long as Sae was covered in blood, the camera had no effect on her. The main question was how to get rid of the blood.

Sae emerged from the shadows again. This time, the only part of her that wasn't covered in blood was her face. She then began to advance towards Mio again.

Mio aimed her camera at Sae's face and fired.

Sae screamed, clutched her face, then vanished.

Mio then realized something. Every time Sae vanished and reappeared elsewhere, some of the blood covering her vanished.

Mio then decided to test this theory out. When Sae emerged from the shadows covered in blood, Mio didn't fire. Instead she let Sae advance towards her, then evaded Sae's lunge.

Sae vanished then emerged from the shadows again. The blood no longer covered her face. She then lunged at Mio.

Mio evaded the lunge and watched Sae disappear again.

When Sae reappeared, her head and the top part of her kimono were no longer covered in blood.

Mio aimed her camera at Sae and opened fire.

Sae screamed in pain then faded away.

Mio flashed a small smile of triumph, she managed to figure out how to get past Sae's defense.

Sae on the other hand wasn't done yet.

"_Deeper…deeper..." _Sae reappeared hovering over the abyss. The blood covering her turned turned into red mist, it began to stretch and transform. It changed into a long red rope. Sae lashed the rope out at Mio.

The rope wrapped around Mio's waist. Sae began to pull on the rope, pulling Mio towards the abyss.

Little did Sae know, this made her an easy target.

Mio fired several 90-film shots at Sae.

Sae screamed and disappeared. The rope disappeared as well.

Sae then reappeared on the other side of the abyss. The blood surrounding her turned to red mist once more. The blood formed into several red spheres.

"_Together forever…" _Sae launched the red spheres at Mio.

Mio tried to cancel out the projectiles with her camera, but it didn't work. Luckily, the spheres weren't homing.

Mio was able to evade them and return fire.

Sae screamed and faded away again. Now where was she going to reappear-oh no!

Sae reappeared behind Mio.

Mio turned around to fire. Unfortunately, she was out of 90-film. Sae lunged at Mio. She ghosted her hand through her clothes, through the skin, through the muscles, and into the rib cage.

"_The two of us shall become one." _Sae's lips curled into a demented smile. _"The two of us shall be together forever."_

Mio knew darn well what was going to happen. She saw Sae do it to Ryokan before.

"No…" Mio wheezed.

As Sae grabbed hold of Mio's heart, Mio placed both of her hands on her chest and pushed on it to prevent her heart from being torn out.

Mio gritted her teeth in pain as Sae tried to pull her heart out.

When Sae saw that she couldn't, she scowled at Mio.

"_Stubborn till the very end Yae…" _Sae hissed.

Sae then began to squeeze Mio's heart.

"My name is Mio..." Mio weakly replied. "Mio…Amakura…"

Mio aimed her camera directly at Sae's face and fired the last of her Zero-film. Sae screamed, let go of Mio's heart and clutched her face in agony.

Mio kneeled on the ground gasping.

Her chest hurt but she was okay. Sae on the other hand was still clutching her face in agony, leaving herself vunerable to attack.

Unfortunately, Mio was out of film now. The only film she had left was 7-film, but she doubted it would be much use against Sae.

Just then a crimson butterfly landed on the camera. It burrowed its way inside.

The camera glowed mystical blue.

Sae finally stopped clutching her face. Her eyes were red and swollen.

Sae growled, then lunged at Mio.

Mio pushed the fire button.

A bright blue beam of light shot out of the camera. It slammed Sae into a wall. The camera was still emitting the beam.

Sae began convulsing as if she was being electrocuted.

Her eyes began to glow blue, her body began to throb. Blue light shot out of her eyes and mouth. Sae let out an animalistic scream, then she exploded into a very large flash of light.

The entire room was engulfed in light. The light spread through the tunnels like water rushing out of a flood gate.

White was all Mio saw before she passed out.


	13. Chapter 13: Sunrise

**Chapter 12: Sunrise**

Mio regained conscious. What just happened, did she defeat Sae? Was Mayu okay?

Mio then began to observe her surroundings. She was back in the room where she had defeated the Kusabi.

How did she end up here?

Never mind about that, where was Mayu?

Mio made a quick scan of the room. Mayu was nowhere to be seen.

She must back at the abyss room.

Mio exited the room and ran through the tunnel. As she did, she heard chanting and staves being clashed to the ground.

"_Why did you leave me alone?" _Sae's voice echoed through the tunnel.

Mio began to run faster.

"_You promised that we'd always be together!" _Sae's voice echoed.

Mio knew that if Sae up ahead, so was Mayu.

Mio finally reached the end of the tunnel. She entered the abyss room. Several priests stood against the walls chanting and clashing their staves against the ground.

But what caught Mio's attention was what was directly in front of her.

Mayu was slowly walking towards the abyss.

_"Until the very end…I'll be waiting…" _Mayu was pretty close to the abyss now.

"Mayuuu!" Mio shouted. No, she wouldn't let this happen to her sister. She just couldn't.

Mio began to run towards Mayu. Then, something totally unexpected happened.

Mio felt something exit her body. Another ghost materialized into existence.

She wore a white kimono and had short black hair. She looked just like Sae.

Mio knew who the ghost was. It was Yae. All this time, she had been within Mio.

Mayu stopped. The priests fell silent.

"_Sae…" _Yae called out to Mayu.

Mayu turned around. White mist surrounded her and she turned into Sae once more.

She looked different now. Her eyes no longer full of malice nor insanity. Her white kimono was no longer stained with blood. The final attack Mio had unleashed purified her.

"_Yae…" _Sae said softly. _"I…I knew you'd come."_

"_I'm so sorry Sae." _Yae lowered her head. _"I promised you we'd always be together, but in the end I wasn't able to keep it."_

There was silence.

"_That day-" _Yae began to explain.

"_I know."_ Sae whispered. _"I understand."_

"_You know what happened?" _Yae asked.

"_I can see things clearly now." _Sae replied. _"I'm just glad you came back."_

Sae then hugged her sister. _"I'm so happy to see you again."_

"_I'm happy to see you too." _Yae hugged Sae as well.

They embraced each other for a few minutes. Mio watched in awe.

Finally Sae and Yae turned around and faced the abyss.

A mourner stood at the other side of the abyss. The mourner pointed down towards the abyss.

"_Together forever…" _Yae said. "_I'll never break that promise again."_

Both Sae and Yae held hands. A red rope materialized into existence and linked the twins together by the waist.

"_Thank you." _Sae smiled. _"Now I can finally go."_

Mio gasped. She knew that both twins were going to jump into the abyss. There was just one problem with that.

Sae still controlled Mayu. Mio ran towards Sae full speed ahead.

"_Shall we begin?" _Yae asked.

Sae gave her a brief nod.

Both twins fell forward, doing a belly flop towards the abyss.

Mio reached the edge of the abyss, bent down, and quickly grabbed Sae around the waist.

Mio successfully yanked Mayu out of Sae.

Sae and Yae continued to fall.

"_I'll never let you go again." _Yae's voice echoed.

Soon both twins faded away into the darkness of the abyss. With their job done, the priests in the room faded away as well.

Mayu was on her knees. Mio knelt beside her and wrapped her arms around Mayu's neck.

"Mayu...Mayu..." Mio buried her face into Mayu's hair. "I'm so glad I made it."

"Mio?" Mayu asked. She was starting to regain her senses.

"It's over Mayu." Mio said. "The nightmare is finally over."

Mayu's eyes then spotted something rise from the abyss. It was a crimson red butterfly. It flew high above Mayu's head.

Mayu tilted her head upward to look at it. Mio looked up and saw the butterfly as well.

"_**Thank you." **_Both the voices of Yae and Sae echoed out of it.

The butterfly then flew away. Several other butterflies then flew out of the abyss as well.

Mio and Mayu watched the butterflies in awe.

--

It took awhile for Mio and Mayu to exit the underground tunnels. Finally, they were outside.

The sun shone over the village for the first time.

"It's so beautiful." Mayu said in awe.

"Yeah…" Mio replied. "It's sure nice to see the sun again."

There was silence for a few minutes.

"I always thought…that day, if only I was there holding your hand." Mio said. "Mayu."

"You know." Mayu replied. "I was so scared when you left. We would live and one day die separately."

The twins watched the butterflies fly over the horizon.

"I was always so overwhelmed by that." Mayu continued. "But, ever since then, you've always be with me."

Both Mio and Mayu held hands at that point.

"We might not be able to be one." Mio admitted. "But I'll never let you go again. I promise."

Mayu simply smiled.

With their new promise sealed, both twins happily watched the sunrise.

Both twins were content.

A new day laid ahead of them, and they were both ready for it.


	14. Chapter 14: Epilogue

**Epilogue: Distant Skies**

It had been two years since Mio and Mayu escaped the lost village. All the pictures Mio had taken turned out blank.

Mio and Mayu came to the conclusion that the ghosts were finally able to rest in peace.

When they returned home, they found out they had been gone for an entire day.

Now they sat on a bench overlooking a large body of water.

"We used to play here a lot you know." Mayu said.

"Yeah." Mio nodded in agreement.

"Now it's all gone." Mayu said.

It was true, a few days after they got back from the village. The construction of the dam was complete. The small creek they used to hang out was flooded along with the Lost Village and the rest of the forest.

"Perhaps it was for the best." Mio replied.

Mayu knew what she meant.

"Yeah…" Mayu replied. "I guess your right."

The twins never talked about their experience in the village. It was usually rare when they did.

Mio picked up the camera that was on her lap and placed it beside her.

"Still holding onto that I see." Mayu said.

"Yeah." Mio replied. "Ever since that _day _it's giving me a sense of security."

There was silence for a few minutes.

"How's your leg?" Mio asked. "Does it still hurt."

"It feels much better now." Mayu replied. "It aches a bit if I run too fast, but it feels better."

"Good." Mio smiled. "I'm sure it'll fully recover in time."

"Say Mio, have you considered taking an interest in photography?" Mayu asked.

"I've been thinking about it." Mio admitted. "It could be an interesting hobby. If I do go down that path would you like to become my assistant."

"Mio, you don't need to ask." Mayu smiled. "Of course I would."

There was silence for a few minutes.

"We'll it's time to get going." Mio said. "Uncle Kei will be expecting us soon. I heard he's inviting a friend over, I think his name is Yuu."

"Yeah, it's Yuu." Mayu confirmed. "Yuu Aso. Uncle Kei spoke greatly about him, I'm sure he's a good man."

"Me too." Mio nodded.

Both twins sat up and walked home.

From a nearby tree branch, a crimson red butterfly watched them. A few minutes later, it flew off into the distant skies.

**The End**


End file.
